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Andrew Cancio Repeats Upset Victory over Puerto Rico’s Alberto Machado

(By special correspondent Tarrah Zeal) INDIO, Ca.-Andrew Cancio showed the boxing world his first win over Alberto Machado was no fluke. Cancio (21-4-2, 16 KO)s retained his WBA super featherweight title belt by a third-round knockout.
“I feel like the fight is going to end the way the first fight ended,” Cancio said in a conference call several weeks prior to Friday’s rematch at Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio, CA.
Before a sold-out crowd, the fighter from Blythe, Calif. who goes by the name “Chango” repeated his win of four months ago and delivered Machado (21-2, 17 KOs) to a heavier weight division with the loss.
In the opening three minutes of round one, Machado came out stronger and more focused than he did in their first match back in February. There was back and forth action between the two, but overall Machado landed the cleaner and more effective blows. A nice left uppercut upon the chin of Machado ended the first round, but he was able to take it well.
Machado, looking to get his revenge, caused a cut over Cancio’s left eye at the start of the second round. A quick and powerful flurry of punches created an uproar in the crowd as Cancio attacked Machado.
Despite Machado’s efforts to keep his distance, Cancio walked him down to continue fighting on the inside. After Cancio landed multiple body shots, he staggered Machado in the end of the round, giving him trouble in finding his corner after the attack.
In the early seconds of round three, Cancio landed a vicious left hook and a flurry of combinations, pounding away upon Machado’s body in efforts to keep him on the defense. Then a left hook to the body forced Machado to the take a knee and he could not beat the count. The official time was 1:01 of the third frame.
Cancio’s impressive showing was further affirmation that he is here to stay in the super featherweight division. Possibilities for upcoming battles include unification matches with Rene Alvarado, Gervonta Davis and Tevin Farmer.
Machado claimed, “Look I was ready to get up and the referee decided to stop the fight, I wanted to keep going.” But wobbly legs showed us otherwise.
Soto Takes WBO Title from Acosta
In the co-main event, scheduled for 12-rounds, Angel “Tito” Acosta (19-2, 19 KOs) of San Juan, Puerto Rico made his fifth world title defense against Elwin Soto (14-1. 10 KOs) of Mexicali, Mexico.
In a shocker, Mexicali’s Soto scored a 12th round TKO. It was an intense fight up until the last round and ended in controversy over the question of whether the referee had prematurely stopped the fight.
This light flyweight battle began right away with an action-packed opening round. By round three Soto had Acosta in trouble. A big left hand and right cross combo sent Acosta to the floor. When Acosta made it to his feet, Soto showed no mercy but Acosta survived the round.
In round four, a huge right hand from Soto had Acosta hurt and a double left hook had Acosta evading the power and staying out of range of Soto. But with so much at stake, Acosta stayed into the fight and actually took control in the middle rounds, landing multiple combinations to Soto’s head and body.
Entering the later rounds, Acosta began to outwork his opponent. It was clear Acosta had regained control of the fight heading into the final round.
As the bell for the last round clanged, Acosta opened up bombs on Soto and the Mexican fighter curled up with his hand covering his face. In an attempt to engage back, Soto countered with a powerful left hook to the chin that stunned Acosta and sent him back against the ropes. Soto rushed Acosta and began to throw body combos but not before referee Thomas Taylor stepped in. The fight, an outright war, was waived off after only 23 seconds had elapsed in round 12.
The controversial stoppage infuriated Acosta. Soto was jubilant. “This victory means a lot and I dedicate this belt to my family,” said the the new WBO light flyweight champion. “To be honest I thought I was going to lose and thank God I landed that punch and won the fight”.
“Sure he hurt me but it wasn’t enough for the stoppage.” said the downtrodden former champion who said he would welcome a rematch (and I’m sure boxing fans wouldn’t be opposed to that).
In the main preliminary, a 10-round super lightweight contest, Milwaukee’s Luis Feliciano (12-0, 8 KOs) of Milwaukee, Wisconsin remained undefeated with a seventh round stoppage of veteran Fernando Carcamo (23-10, 18 KOs) of Sonora, Mexico. Feliciano trains with boxing star trainer Ben Lira.
Feliciano landed a left hook that stunned the southpaw Carcamo in round one, but Carcamo was able to take the punch. Round by round, Feliciano began to pick apart his opponent, landing great combinations and big left hands but Carcamo, who had been stopped five previous times, was determined to show he deserved to be in the ring with Feliciano and continued to move forward. But Feliciano eventually finished him, unloading a series of rights that folded Carcamo to the canvas.
In the DAZN TV opener, Las Vegas, Nevada’s Blair “The Flair” Cobbs — a flamboyant character inside and outside of the ring — took on Houston’s Robert Redmond Jr. (7-2-2, 6 KOs) in a scheduled 8-round welterweight battle.
In round one, Cobbs (11-0-1, 7 KOs) aggressively showboated, throwing wild but powerful punches, forcing Redmond to adjust to his style. Both fighters came out swinging but a left hook to the chin of Redmond stunned him in the first round.
Within 30 seconds of round 2, a right hand to the chin had Redmond on the canvas. Another wild but big right-hand backed Redmond up against the ropes as he tried to figure out the awkward and wild style of Cobbs.
By round three, Redmond’s right eye started to swell. Before the start of round five, the doctor was called in to examine it and let the fight continue. Fighting with a sense of urgency, Redmond landed a straight right hand to Cobbs chin, but the more experienced fighter used his stamina to finish Redmond off with powerful blows to the body. At the 1:52 mark of round six, at the request of Redmond’s corner, the referee stopped the bout.
Other Bouts
The first bout of the night was a four-round battle in the middleweight division. The fight, an all-action affair between Clay Collard of Cache Valley, Utah (1-1-2) and Emilio Rodriguez (3-1-1, 2 KO) of Van Nuys, California, ended in a draw. One judge had it 40-36 for Rodriguez but the other two had it 38-38.
In a 4-round super bantamweight match, 19-year-old Anthony Garnica (3-1, 2 KOs) of Oakland, CA took on 30-year-old Gilberto Duran from Yakima, WA (3-2, 3 KOs).
A decorated amateur, trained by Manny Robles (who also trains heavyweight champ Manny Robles), Garnica dominated the contest, winning by scores of 40-35 on all three cards.
Also, undefeated Aaron McKenna (8-0, 5 KO) of Monoghan, Ireland, scored a second round stoppage over Daniel Perales (10-18-2) of Monterrey, Mexico. The official time was 0:42.
“Once I landed the first hard shot, I knew he wouldn’t be able to take more. I stepped it up, and that’s how I got the second-round victory.” said McKenna after his win.
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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

Japan’s Naoya “Monster” Inoue banged it out with Mexico’s Ramon Cardenas, survived an early knockdown and pounded out a stoppage win to retain the undisputed super bantamweight world championship on Sunday.
Japan and Mexico delivered for boxing fans again after American stars failed in back-to-back days.
“By watching tonight’s fight, everyone is well aware that I like to brawl,” Inoue said.
Inoue (30-0, 27 KOs), and Cardenas (26-2, 14 KOs) and his wicked left hook, showed the world and 8,474 fans at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas that prizefighting is about punching, not running.
After massive exposure for three days of fights that began in New York City, then moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and then to Nevada, it was the casino capital of the world that delivered what most boxing fans appreciate- pure unadulterated action fights.
Monster Inoue immediately went to work as soon as the opening bell rang with a consistent attack on Cardenas, who very few people knew anything about.
One thing promised by Cardenas’ trainer Joel Diaz was that his fighter “can crack.”
Cardenas proved his trainer’s words truthful when he caught Inoue after a short violent exchange with a short left hook and down went the Japanese champion on his back. The crowd was shocked to its toes.
“I was very surprised,” said Inoue about getting dropped. ““In the first round, I felt I had good distance. It got loose in the second round. From then on, I made sure to not take that punch again.”
Inoue had no trouble getting up, but he did have trouble avoiding some of Cardenas massive blows delivered with evil intentions. Though Inoue did not go down again, a look of total astonishment blanketed his face.
A real fight was happening.
Cardenas, who resembles actor Andy Garcia, was never overly aggressive but kept that left hook of his cocked and ready to launch whenever he saw the moment. There were many moments against the hyper-aggressive Inoue.
Both fighters pack power and both looked to find the right moment. But after Inoue was knocked down by the left hook counter, he discovered a way to eliminate that weapon from Cardenas. Still, the Texas-based fighter had a strong right too.
In the sixth round Inoue opened up with one of his lightning combinations responsible for 10 consecutive knockout wins. Cardenas backed against the ropes and Inoue blasted away with blow after blow. Then suddenly, Cardenas turned Inoue around and had him on the ropes as the Mexican fighter unloaded nasty combinations to the body and head. Fans roared their approval.
“I dreamed about fighting in front of thousands of people in Las Vegas,” said Cardenas. “So, I came to give everything.”
Inoue looked a little surprised and had a slight Mona Lisa grin across his face. In the seventh round, the Japanese four-division world champion seemed ready to attack again full force and launched into the round guns blazing. Cardenas tried to catch Inoue again with counter left hooks but Inoue’s combos rained like deadly hail. Four consecutive rights by Inoue blasted Cardenas almost through the ropes. The referee Tom Taylor ruled it a knockdown. Cardenas beat the count and survived the round.
In the eighth round Inoue looked eager to attack and at the bell launched across the ring and unloaded more blows on Cardenas. A barrage of 14 unanswered blows forced the referee to stop the fight at 45 seconds of round eight for a technical knockout win.
“I knew he was tough,” said Inoue. “Boxing is not that easy.”
Espinoza Wins
WBO featherweight titlist Rafael Espinosa (27-0, 23 KOs) uppercut his way to a knockout win over Edward Vazquez (17-3, 4 KOs) in the seventh round.
“I wanted to fight a game fighter to show what I am capable,” said Espinoza.
Espinosa used the leverage of his six-foot, one-inch height to slice uppercuts under the guard of Vazquez. And when the tall Mexican from Guadalajara targeted the body, it was then that the Texas fighter began to wilt. But he never surrendered.
Though he connected against Espinoza in every round, he was not able to slow down the taller fighter and that allowed the Mexican fighter to unleash a 10-punch barrage including four consecutive uppercuts. The referee stopped the fight at 1:47 of the seventh round.
It was Espinoza’s third title defense.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Undercard Results and Recaps from the Inoue-Cardenas Show in Las Vegas

The curtain was drawn on a busy boxing weekend tonight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas where the featured attraction was Japanese superstar Naoya Inoue appearing in his twenty-fifth world title fight.
The top two fights (Inoue vs. Roman Cardenas for the unified 122-pound crown and Rafael Espinoza vs. Edward Vazquez for the WBO world featherweight diadem) aired on the main ESPN platform with the preliminaries streaming on ESPN+.
The finale of the preliminaries was a 10-rounder between welterweights Rohan Polanco and Fabian Maidana. A 2020/21 Olympian for the Dominican Republic, Polanco was a solid favorite and showed why by pitching a shutout, punctuating his triumph by knocking Maidana to his knees late in the final round with a hard punch to the pit of the stomach.
Polanco improved to 16-0 (10). Argentina’s Maidana, the younger brother of former world title-holder Marcos Maidana, fell to 24-4 while maintaining his distinction of never being stopped.
Emiliano Vargas, a rising force in the 140-pound division with the potential to become a crossover star, advanced to 14-0 (12 KOs) with a second-round stoppage Juan Leon. Vargas, who turned 21 last month, is the son of former U.S. Olympian Fernando Vargas who had big money fights with the likes of Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya. Emiliano knocked Leon down hard twice in round two – both the result of right-left combinations — before Robert Hoyle waived it off.
A 28-year-old Spaniard, Leon was 11-2-1 heading in.
In his U.S. debut, 29-year-old Japanese southpaw Mikito Nakano (13-0, 12 KOs) turned in an Inoue-like performance with a fourth-round stoppage of Puerto Rico’s Pedro Medina. Nakano, a featherweight, had Medina on the canvas five times before referee Harvey Dock waived it off at the 1:58 mark of round four. The shell-shocked Medina (16-2) came into the contest riding a 15-fight winning streak.
Lynwood, California junior middleweight Art Barrera Jr, a 19-year-old protégé of Robert Garcia, scored a sixth-round stoppage of Chicago’s Juan Carlos Guerra. There were no knockdowns, but the bout had turned sharply in Barrera’s favor when referee Thomas Taylor intervened. The official time was 1:15 of round six.
Barrera improved to 9-0 (7 KOs). The spunky but outclassed Guerra, who upset Nico Ali Walsh in his previous outing, declined to 6-2-1.
In the lid-lifter, a 10-round featherweight affair, Muskegon Michigan’s Ra’eese Aleem improved to 22-1 (12) with a unanimous decision over LA’s hard-trying Rudy Garcia (13-2-1). The judges had it 99-01, 98-92, and 97-93.
Aleem, 34, was making his second start since June of 2023 when he lost a split decision in Australia to Sam Goodman with a date with Naoya Inoue hanging in the balance.
Check back shortly for David Avila’s recaps of the two world title fights.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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Canelo Alvarez Upends Dancing Machine William Scull in Saudi Arabia

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, who has acquired a new nickname – “The Face of Boxing” – is accustomed to fighting on Cinco De Mayo weekend, but this year was different. For the first time, Canelo was fighting outside the continent of North America and entering the ring at an awkward hour. His match with William Scull started at 6:30 on a Sunday morning in Riyadh.
In the opposite corner was 32-year-old William Scull, an undefeated (23-0) Cuban by way of Germany, whose performance was better suited to “Dancing With the Stars” than to a world title fight. Constantly bouncing from side to side but rarely letting his hands go, Scull frustrated Canelo who found it near-impossible to corner him, but one can’t win a fight solely on defense and the Mexican superstar was returned the rightful winner in a bout that was a fitting cap to a desultory two days of Saudi-promoted prizefighting. The scores were 115-113, 116-112, and 119-109. In winning, Canelo became a fully unified super middleweight champion twice over.
Terence Crawford was in attendance and HE Turki Alalshikh made it official: Crawford (41-0, 31 KOs) and Canelo (63-2-2, 39 KOs) will meet in the Fight of the Century (Alalshikh’s words) on Sept. 12 in Las Vegas at the home of the city’s NFL team, the Raiders. For whatever it’s worth, each of Canelo’s last seven fights has gone the full 12 rounds.
Semi-wind-up
In a match between the WBC world cruiserweight title-holder and the WBC world cruiserweight “champion in recess” (don’t ask), the former, Badou Jack, brought some clarity to the diadem by winning a narrow decision over Noel Mikaelian. One of the judges had it a draw (114-114), but the others gave the fight to “Jack the Ripper” by 115-113 scores.
A devout Muslim who is now a full-time resident of Saudi Arabia, the Sweden-born Jack, a three-division title-holder, had the crowd in his corner. Now 41 years old, he advanced his record to 29-3-3 (17). It was the first pro loss for Mikaelian (27-1), a Florida-based Armenian who was subbing for Ryan Rozicki.
The distracted CompuBox operator credited Mikaelian with throwing 300 more punches but there was no controversy.
Tijuana’s Jaime Munguia, a former junior middleweight title-holder, avenged his shocking loss to Bruno Sarace with a unanimous 12-round decision in their rematch. This was Munguia’s first fight with Eddy Reynoso in his corner. The scores were 117-111 and 116-112 twice.
Surace’s one-punch knockout of Munguia in mid-December in Tijuana was the runaway pick for the 2024 Upset of the Year. Heading in, Munguia was 44-1 with his lone defeat coming at the hands of Canelo Alvarez. Munguia had won every round against Surace before the roof fell in on him.
Surace won a few rounds tonight, but Munguia was the busier fighter and landed the cleaner shots. It was the first pro loss for Surace (26-1-2) and ended his 23-fight winning streak. The Frenchman hails for Marseilles.
Heavyweights
In a 10-round heavyweight match fought at a glacial pace, Martin Bakole (21-2-1) and Efe Ajagba (20-1-1) fought to a draw. One of the judges favored Ajagba 96-94 but he was outvoted by his cohorts who each had it 95-95.
Bakole, a 7/2 favorite, came in at 299 pounds, 15 more than he carried in his signature win over Jared Anderson, and looked sluggish. He was never able to effectively close off the ring against the elusive Ajagba who fought off his back foot and failed to build on his early lead.
The fight between the Scotch-Congolese campaigner Bakole and his Nigerian-American foe was informally contested for the heavyweight championship of Africa. That “title” remains vacant.
In a 6-rounder, heavy-handed Cuban light heavyweight Brayon Leon, a stablemate of Canelo Alvarez, was extended the distance for the first time while advancing his record to 7-0 at the expense of Mexico’s Aaron Roche (11-4-1). Leon knocked Roche to the canvas in the fourth round with a right-left combination, but the Mexican stayed the course while eating a lot of hard punches.
Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry Promotions
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