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Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury Title Fight Ends in a Draw and Other Results in L.A.

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Wilder vs Fury

LOS ANGELES-A British invasion led by Tyson Fury and his raucous followers could not overcome powerful Deontay Wilder who floored the giant gypsy twice to earn a split draw and retain the WBC heavyweight world title on Saturday.

No one in the more than 15,000 fans in the building was satisfied.

Only titleholder Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) and lineal heavyweight champion Fury (27-0-1, 19 KOs) seemed satisfied after the decision was rendered at the Staples Center. The split draw keeps both fighters unbeaten and both also keep their titles.

Still, it was a heavyweight spectacle.

Fury seemed eager to have fun and eager to show off his defensive prowess against the hard-punching Wilder. Time after time Wilder’s windmill rights hit air as Fury slipped under the blows.

British fans cheered loudly throughout the fight and hurled insults in unison in the eastern section of the arena where celebrities like Laker great Jerry West sat.

Once the fight began the cheering got even louder.

The fight itself was filled with head and body feints and both giant heavyweights willing to keep a distance. The few times they found themselves inside each other’s reach, Fury grabbed the slightly smaller Wilder who never resisted.

Punches never reached triple digits in any round of the fight, but if there were a wind factor from the blows missed it would have reached hurricane forces.

“I couldn’t let it go tonight,” said Wilder. “I was forcing my punches.”

Though Wilder opened up the first three rounds slightly more aggressively, Fury began controlling the fight with his snapping combinations and long blows. Round after round Fury began mounting points.

Fury got into a groove and seemed to be on cruise control when Wilder suddenly erupted in the ninth round with a right to the side of Fury’s head followed by a left hook. Down went Fury. He got up shaking his body a little and the fight resumed. Wilder tried to finish and Fury connected with a sneak left hook that connected. Wilder moved in more cautiously after that until the bell ended the 9th round.

Fury regained control of round 10 with a more aggressive approach. Wilder seemed to be wary of that blow in the previous round and was more selective in his attack. It was a big Fury round and allowed him to grab back the momentum.

In the 11th round Wilder returned to a more aggressive attack and was successful by attacking the body. Fury slowed to a crawl, perhaps thinking he was far ahead on the scorecards.

“”I felt I did enough to win the fight,” Fury said

The final round saw Fury connect with a solid one-two combination. The British fans roared with the success of their champion, but before you could say lickety-split, Wilder unloaded his own three-punch combination and connected with a right cross and left hook. Down went Fury hard and seemingly for good. But he picked himself off the ground and obeyed referee Jack Reiss”s commands. The fight resumed. Neither fighter could land another killing blow and the final bell rang.

One judge scored it 115-111 for Wilder and another 114-112 for Fury. A third scored it 113-113 a draw and both do not suffer a loss on their records. A rematch seems inevitable.

“With two knockdowns I feel I won the fight,” said Wilder. “I feel I did as much as he did.”

Fury felt he won but seemed more than happy about surviving the knockdowns.

“I got put down with some good shots,” said Fury with a big smile. “I came here tonight and gave my all.”

Fans seemed to want more as they left the building.

Other Bouts

Multi super welterweight world titlist Jarrett Hurd (23-0,16 KOs) needed a few punches in the head by England’s Jason Welborn (24-7, 7 KOs) to ignite his mojo and win the fight by knockout with a solar plexus punch.

Hurd, the IBF, IBO and WBA titlist, seemed to be stuck on defensive mode as he allowed the shorter Welborn to unload combinations on him the first three rounds. But when the British fighter got too cocky it unlocked the defensive shackles on Hurd and he opened up both guns full blast. A right uppercut to the solar plexus sunk Welborn to his knees and he was counted out at 1:55 of round four by referee Lou Moret.

Heavyweight contender Luis Ortiz (30-1, 26 KOs) needed almost all 10 rounds to finally break down rugged Travis Kauffman (32-3, 23 KOs) and win by knockout at 1:58 of the 10th and final round. Ortiz knocked down Kauffman in the 6th, 8th, and 10th round. Then Ortiz followed up the last knockdown with an eight-punch barrage and had Kauffman on his heels. Referee Tom Taylor jumped in to stop the beating and give Ortiz the win by knockout.

England’s Joe “The Juggernaut” Joyce (7-0, 7 KOs) blasted out American Joe Hanks (23-3, 15 KOs) at 2:25 of the 1st round of the heavyweight fight. The former Olympic medalist hurt Hanks with a lead right but didn’t realize it. Seconds later he fired another lead right followed by a left hook and knocked out Hanks at 2:25 of the round. Joyce wins the vacant WBA Continental title.

Former multi-world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero returned to boxing after a short retirement to win by knockout over Hungary’s Adam Mate (28-13, 21 KOs) in a welterweight match. Guerrero floored Mate with a double left to the head and body in the first round. In the second round a counter left cross dropped Mate who looked shaky. After continuing, Guerrero fired a quick one-two the dropped Mate again. Referee Ray Corona stopped the fight at 2:25 of the second round.

Julian Williams (26-1, 16 KOs) knocked out Francisco Castro (28-9, 23 KOs) at 2:40 of the second round of their super welterweight clash. Williams fights out of Philadelphia and won his fourth consecutive fight since losing to Jermall Charlo.

Marsellos Wilder (3-0) floored David Damore (1-5-3) with a five-punch combination in the second round and eventually won by unanimous decision after four cruiserweight rounds. All three judges scored it 40-35 for Wilder, brother of Deontay, who seemed disappointed by the inability to stop Damore who rallied the last two rounds.

San Antonio’s Jessie Rodriguez (8-0, 4 KOs) won by unanimous decision over Houston’s Josue Morales (8-9-3) after six rounds in a light flyweight contest.

And finally, in a bout that ran after the main event, Chris Arreola (37-5-1, 32 KOs) won by knockout at the end of round 6 over Houston’s Maurenzo Smith (20-11-3) in a heavyweight fight. Arreola fights out of Riverside, Calif.

Photo credit: Al Applerose

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

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Floyd Schofield Wins a Banger and Gabriela Fundora Wins by KO

LAS VEGAS-Shades of Henry Armstrong and Baby Arizmendi. If you don’t know those names, look them up.

Floyd Schofield battled his way past Mexico’s super tough Rene Tellez Giron who walked through every blow the Texan could fire but lost by decision on Saturday.

It was a severe test and perfect matchmaking for Schofield who yearns for the big bouts against the lightweight giants roaming the world.

Schofield (18-0, 12 KOs) remains undefeated and won the war over thick-necked Mexican Tellez Giron (20-4, 13 KOs) who has never been knocked out and proved to be immune to big punches.

In the opening rounds, the Texas fighter came out firing rapid combinations from the southpaw and orthodox stances. Meanwhile the shorter Tellez Giron studied and fired back an occasional counter for two rounds.

Tellez Giron had seen enough and took his stand in the third stanza. Both unleashed blazing bombs with Schofield turning his back to the Mexican. At that moment referee Tom Taylor could have waved the fight over.

You never turn your back.

The fight resumed and Schofield was damaged. He tried to open up with even more deadly fire but was rebuked by the strong chin of Tellez Giron who fired back in the mad frenzy.

For the remainder of the fight Schofield tried every trick in his arsenal to inflict damage on the thick-necked Mexican. He could not be wobbled. In the 11th round both opened up with serious swing-from-the-heels combinations and suddenly Schofield was looking up. He beat the count easily and the two remained slugging it out.

“He hit me with a good shot,” Schofield said of the knockdown. “I just had to get up. I’m not going to quit.”

In the final round Schofield moved around looking for the proper moment to engage. The Mexican looked like a cat ready to pounce and the two fired furious blows. Neither was hit with the big bombs in the last seconds.

There was Tellez Giron standing defiantly like Baby Arizmendi must have stood in those five ferocious meetings against the incomparable Henry Armstrong. Three of their wars took place in Los Angeles, two at the Olympic Auditorium in the late 1930s as the U.S. was emerging from the Great Depression.

In this fight, Schofield took the win by unanimous decision by scores 118-109 twice and 116-111. It was well-deserved.

“I tried to bang it out,” said Schofield. “Today I learned you can’t always get the knockout.”

Fundora

IBF flyweight titlist Gabriela Fundora needed seven rounds to figure out the darting style of Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz before firing a laser left cross down the middle to end the battle and become the undisputed flyweight world champion.

Fundora now holds all four titles including the WBO, WBA and WBC titles that Alaniz brought in the ring.

Fundora knocked down Alaniz midway through the seventh round. She complained it was due to a tangle of the legs. Several seconds later Fundora blasted the Argentine to the floor again with a single left blast. This time there was no doubt. Her corner wisely waved a white towel to stop the fight at 1:40 of the seventh round.

No one argued the stoppage.

Other Bouts

Bektemir Melikuziev (15-1, 10 KOs) didn’t make weight in a title bout but managed to out-fight David Stevens (14-2, 10 KOs) in a super middleweight fight held at 12 rounds.

Melikuziev used his movement and southpaw stance to keep Pennsylvania’s Stevens from being able to connect with combinations. But Stevens did show he could handle “The Bully’s” punching power over the 12-round fight.

After 12 rounds one judge favored Stevens 116-112, while two others saw Melikuziev the winner by split decision 118-110 and 117-111.

Super middleweight WBA titlist Darius Fulghum (13-0, 11 KOs) pummeled his way to a technical knockout win over southpaw veteran Chris Pearson (17-5-1, 12 KOs) who attempted the rope-a-dope strategy to no avail.

Fulghum floored Pearson in the first round with a four-punch combination and after that just belted Pearson who covered up and fired an occasional blow. Referee Mike Perez stopped the fight at 1:02 of the third round when Pearson did not fire back after a blazing combination.

Young welterweight prospect Joel Iriarte (5-0, 5 KOs) blasted away at the three-inch shorter Xavier Madrid (5-6, 2 KOs) who hung tough for as long as possible. At 2:50 of the first round a one-two delivered Madrid to the floor and referee Thomas Taylor called off the beating.

Iriarte, from Bakersfield, Calif., could not miss with left uppercuts and short rights as New Mexico’s Madrid absorbed every blow but would not quit. It was just too much firepower from Iriarte that forced the stoppage.

Photos credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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Results and Recaps from Turning Stone where O’Shaquie Foster Nipped Robson Conceicao

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Top Rank was at the Turning Stone casino-resort in Verona, New York, tonight with an 8-bout card topped by a rematch between Robson Conceicao and O’Shaquie Foster with the victor retaining or recapturing his IBF world junior lightweight title. When the smoke cleared, the operative word was “recapturing” as Foster became a two-time title-holder, avenging his controversial setback to the Brazilian in Newark on July 6.

This was a somewhat better fight than their initial encounter and once again the verdict was split. Foster prevailed by 115-113 on two of the cards with the dissenting judge favoring Conceicao by the same margin. Conceicao seemingly had the edge after nine frames, but Foster, a 4/1 favorite, landed the harder shots in the championship rounds.

It was the thirteenth victory in the last 14 starts for Foster who fights out of Houston. A two-time Olympian and 2016 gold medalist, the 36-year-old Conceicao is 19-3-1 overall and 1-3-1 in world title fights.

Semi-wind-up

SoCal lightweight Raymond Muratalla (22-0, 17 KOs) made a big jump in public esteem and moved one step closer to a world title fight with a second-round blast-out of Jose Antonio Perez who was on the canvas twice but on his feet when the fight was stopped at the 1:24 mark of round two. Muratalla, a product of Robert Garcia’s boxing academy, is ranked #2 by the WBC and WBO. A Tijuana native, Perez (25-6) earned this assignment with an upset of former Olympian and former 130-pound world titlist Jojo Diaz,

Other Bouts

Syracuse junior welterweight Bryce Mills, a high-pressure fighter with a strong local following, stopped scrawny Mike O’Han Jr whose trainer Mark DeLuca pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. Mills improved to 17-1 (6 KOs). It was another rough day at the office for Massachusetts house painting contractor O’’Han (19-4) who had the misfortune of meeting Abdullah Mason in his previous bout.

In a junior lightweight fight that didn’t heat up until late in the final round, Albany’s Abraham Nova (23-3-1) and Tijuana native Humberto Galindo (14-3-3) fought to a 10-round draw. It was another close-but-no- cigar for the likeable Nova who at least stemmed a two-fight losing streak. The judges had it 97-93 (Galindo), 96-94 (Nova) and 95-95.

Twenty-one-year-old Long Island middleweight Jahi Tucker advanced to 13-1-1 (6 KOs) with an eighth-round stoppage of Stockton’s teak-tough but outclassed Quilisto Madera (14-6). Madera was on a short leash after five rounds, but almost took it to the final bell with the referee intervening with barely a minute remaining in the contest. Madera was on his feet when the match was halted. Earlier in the round, Tucker had a point deducted for hitting on the break.

Danbury, Connecticut heavyweight Ali Feliz, one of two fighting sons of journeyman heavyweight Fernely Feliz, improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of beefy Rashad Coulter (5-5). Feliz had Coulter pinned against the ropes and was flailing away when the bout was halted at the 1:34 mark. The 42-year-old Coulter, a competitor in all manner of combat sports, hadn’t previously been stopped when competing as a boxer.

Featherweight Yan Santana dominated and stopped Mexico’s Eduardo Baez who was rescued by referee Charlie Fitch at the 1:57 mark of round four. It was the 12th knockout in 13 starts for Santana, a 24-year-old Dominican father of three A former world title challenger, Mexicali’s Baez declines to 23-7-2 but has lost six of his last eight.

In his most impressive showing to date, Damian Knyba, a six-foot-seven Pole, knocked out paunchy Richard Lartey at the 2:10 mark of round three. A right-left combination knocked Lartey into dreamland, but it was the right did the damage and this was of the nature of a one-punch knockout. Referee Ricky Gonzalez waived the fight off without starting a count.

Knyba, 28, improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). A native of Ghana coming off his career-best win, a fourth-round stoppage of Polish veteran Andrzej Wawrzyk, Lartey declined to 16-7 with his sixth loss inside the distance.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Avila Perspective, Chap. 303: Spotlights on Lightweights and More

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Those lightweights.

Whether junior lights, super lights or lightweights, it’s the 130-140 divisions where most of boxing’s young stars are found now or in the past.

Think Oscar De La Hoya, Sugar Shane Mosley and Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Schofield (17-0, 12 KOs) a Texas product, hungers to be a star and takes on Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron (20-3, 13 KOs) in a 12-round lightweight bout on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada.

DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotion card that includes a female undisputed flyweight championship match pitting Argentina’s Gabriela Alaniz and Gabriela Fundora.

Like a young lion looking to flex, Schofield (pictured on the left)  is eager to meet all the other young lions and prove they’re not equal.

“I’ve been in the room with Shakur, Tank. I want to give everyone a good fight. I feel like my preparation is getting better, I work hard, I’ve dedicated my whole life to this sport,” said Schofield naming fellow lightweights Shakur Stevenson and Gervonta “Tank” Davis.

Now he meets Mexico’s Tellez who has never been stopped.

“I’m willing to do whatever it takes,” said Tellez.

Even in Las Vegas.

Verona, New York

Meanwhile, in upstate New York, a WBC junior lightweight title rematch finds Robson Conceicao (19-2-1, 9 KOs) looking to prove superior to former titlist O’Shaquie Foster (22-3, 12 KOs) on Saturday, Nov. 2, at the Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y. ESPN+ will stream the Top Rank fight card.

Last July, Conceicao and Foster clashed and after 12 rounds the title changed hands from Foster to the Brazilian by split decision.

“I feel that a champion is a fighter who goes out there and doesn’t run around, who looks for the fight, who tries to win, and doesn’t just throw one or two punches and then moves away,” said Conceicao.

Foster disagrees.

“I hope he knows the name of the game is to hit and not get hit. That’s the name of the game,” said Foster.

Also on the same card is lightweight contender Raymond Muratalla (21-0, 16 KOs) who fights Mexico’s Jesus Perez Campos (25-5, 18 KOs).

Perez recently defeated former world champion Jojo Diaz last February in California.

“We’re made for challenges. I like challenges,” said Perez.

Muratalla likes challenges too.

“I think these fights are the types of fights I need to show my skills and to prove I deserve those title fights,” said Fontana’s Muratalla.

Female Undisputed Flyweight Championship

WBA, WBC and WBO flyweight titlist Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz (15-1, 6 KOs meets IBF titlist Gabriela Fundora (14-0, 6 KOs) on Saturday Nov. 2, at the Virgin Hotels Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada. DAZN will stream the clash for the undisputed flyweight championship.

Argentina’s Alaniz clashed twice against former WBA, WBC champ Marlen Esparza with their first encounter ending in a dubious win for the Texas fighter. In fact, three of Esparza’s last title fights were scored controversially.

But against Alaniz, though they fought on equal terms, Esparza was given a 99-91 score by one of the judges though the world saw a much closer contest. So, they fought again, but the rematch took place in California. Two judges deemed Alaniz the winner and one Esparza for a split-decision win.

“I’m really happy to be here representing Argentina. We are ready to fight. Nothing about this fight has to do with Marlen. So, I hope she (Fundora) is ready. I am ready to prepare myself for the great fight of my life,” said Alaniz.

In the case of Fundora, the extremely tall American fighter at 5’9” in height defeated decent competition including Maria Santizo. She was awarded a match with IBF flyweight titlist Arely Mucino who opted for the tall youngster over the dangerous Kenia Enriquez of Mexico.

Bad choice for Mucino.

Fundora pummeled the champion incessantly for five rounds at the Inglewood Forum a year ago. Twice she battered her down and the fight was mercifully stopped. Fundora’s arm was raised as the new champion.

Since that win Fundora has defeated Christina Cruz and Chile’s Daniela Asenjo in defense of the IBF title. In an interesting side bit: Asenjo was ranked as a flyweight contender though she had not fought in that weight class for seven years.

Still, Fundora used her reach and power to easily handle the rugged fighter from Chile.

Immediately after the fight she clamored for a chance to become undisputed.

“It doesn’t get better than this, especially being in Las Vegas. This is the greatest opportunity that we can have,” said Fundora.

It should be exciting.

Fights to Watch

Sat. ESPN+ 2:50 p.m. Robson Conceicao (19-2-1) vs O’Shaquie Foster (22-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Floyd Schofield (17-0) vs Rene Tellez Giron (20-3); Gabriela Alaniz (15-1) vs Gabriela Fundora (14-0).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy

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