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Errol Spence Wins Split Decision and Other Results from L.A.

LOS ANGELES-Sometimes long shots pay off but not this time, as heavily favored IBF welterweight titlist Errol Spence Jr. eked out a victory over Shawn Porter to add the WBC welterweight world title to his collection on Saturday.
If this were thoroughbred horse racing the long shot would have paid off, instead it was prizefighting and Spence Jr. used a single left cross to Porterâs chin to separate himself and win the unification battle before a crowd of more than 16,000 fans at Staples Center.
For 12 solid rounds both Spence and Porter displayed how they reached championship status with two distinctly different but successful styles.
Porter jumped on Spence with his special blend of pressure fighting featuring head movement, side steps and barging forward with both fists pumping from all angles against the thin-framed southpaw Texan.
It took Spence several rounds to adapt.
Despite the steady pressure of Porter, the composed Spence relied on his high guard and pivots to evade the rushes of the eager Ohio fighter. Around the third round Spence began finding success with stinging shots to the body, especially with the left uppercut dig. But most of the punches were fired from close range.
Not wanting to show weakness, Porter opened up the fourth round with even more vigor and seldom allowed Spence his footing. In the following round Spence recaptured the lost ground with his own intensified attack. Back and forth each rallied against the other.
During a savage Porter attack in the 11th round, the clever Spence delivered a crisp sidewinder left cross to the shorter fighterâs chin and down went âShowtimeâ Porter. You could see that the Ohioan knew that could be the difference in the fight when his hand touched the canvas.
Porter acknowledged the knockdown to Spence then urged him to try it again. The round ended with no further examples of power but the confidence seemed to seep out of Porterâs usually confident face. Inside he knew that single left cross could be the difference between winning or losing. It was a three-point swing in scoring because Porter was winning the round until the knockdown.
The final round saw both try to open up, but they were either tired or cautious and it was difficult to pick the winner of the final frame. After 12 rounds one judge scored it 115-112 for Porter while two others scored it 116-111 for Spence who becomes the WBC and IBF welterweight champion.
âI give it to Shawn Porter, heâs a rough and tough fighter,â said Spence after the decision was read. âHe always comes to fight. I wanted to show that I could sit there and hang with him.â
Porter was very gracious in defeat.
âHeâs a strong kid. He got the split decision, he was victorious,â said Porter. âI think the knockdown was the difference.â
Benavidez Regains Title
David Benavidez (22-0, 19 KOs) regained the WBC super middleweight world title by knockout from titlist Anthony Dirrell (33-2-1, 24 KOs) when Dirrell’s corner asked the referee to stop the pummeling in the second half of the fight.
Until the eighth round the taller and younger Benavidez was in control of the fight but Dirrell refused to quit despite a gash above his right eye suffered during a heated exchange. Benavidez repeatedly battered Dirrell with wicked combinations but the Flint, Mich. fighter kept looking for a knockout blow through the blood and hammering.
The ringside physician inspected Dirrellâs eye on several occasion from the sixth round on but the fight resumed. And when Benavidez connected with heavy blows from there on, Dirrell refused to go down. It was an impressive display of valor.
In the eighth round Benavidez opened up with impunity and had Dirrell trapped in a corner when one the Michigan fighterâs cornermen asked to stop the fight. An inspector waved a towel as Benavidez battered Dirrell and referee Tom Taylor finally noticed and stopped the fight at 1:39 of round eight. Benavidez was declared the new WBC super middleweight world champion.
âItâs probably the hardest fight that Iâve been in; a very tactical fight. It wasnât easy,â said Benavidez who hugged Dirrell immediately after the fight ended. âNow Iâm a two-time world champion. I got a lot of respect for him.â
The respect was acknowledged several times during the fight as Dirrell asked to continue despite the bleeding cut and opportunities offered by the referee and ringside physician.
âI felt him. He fought his ass off and he did what he had to win the title,â said Dirrell. âOf course I could have kept going. I didnât quit, I kept going. He likes to get in the inside. Heâs a true champion.â
Benavidez reclaimed the WBC title he lost last year due to a failed drug test. When he had first won the title he was the youngest ever to win the title at 168 pounds.
Barrios
A battle for the WBA super lightweight world title saw Mario Barrios (25-0, 16 KOs) floor Russiaâs Batyr Akhmedov (7-1, 6 KOs) in the fourth round and seem in total control. But after the knockdown, Akhmedov rallied furiously and mounted pressure on the taller fighter from San Antonio to win the later rounds.
Barrios was able to use his quickness and length at first, but once Akhmedov got inside he took control, especially in the second half of the fight. In the final round, with the Russian fighter winning many of the later rounds with pressure, Barrios connected with a well-placed right hand missile that dropped Akhmedov. He beat the count but lost the momentum and the round.
All three judges scored it for Barrios 114-112, 115-111, 116-111 who now holds the WBA world title in a division ripe with many talented fighters.
Josesito Wins
Josesito âRiverside Rockyâ Lopez (37-8, 20 KOs) won by knockout over fellow warrior John âThe Gladiatorâ Molina (30-9, 24 KOs) in the eighth round in a fight that surprised some that it passed the first round in a welterweight clash.
Lopez jumped on Molina with a lead right cross and floored Molina early in the first round. When the fight resumed Lopez decked Molina again with a counter right cross and it didnât look good. But he survived.
If you followed Molinaâs career, you know that heâs been floored before early in several fights and rallied to win by knockout. But not this time. Though Molina set several traps, Lopez was wary of them and used a long left jab and side steps to stay out of Molinaâs power zone. It proved beneficial.
Molina mounted a rally in the fifth round when he connected with multiple overhand rights. One seemed to stun Lopez but he managed to avoid the follow-up blows from Molina.
In the seventh round, Lopez surprised Molina with a stiff jab and right cross and down went Molina for the first time since the first round. Lopez attacked until the bell ended the round.
âI knew John Molina was not going to quit. Heâs a warrior,â said Lopez. âI had to keep on the pressure.â
After a lengthy huddle with the ringside physicians and Molinaâs trainers, he was allowed to proceed to the eighth round. Lopez did not waste time and unleashed a furious five-punch combination that snapped Molinaâs head back. Referee Ray Corona saw enough and stopped the fight with Molina standing at 39 seconds into the eighth round.
âIt was a pleasure being in the ring with John Molina. Iâm very thankful for all of these opportunities,â said Lopez.
Ghost
Former multiple-weight world champion Robert âThe Ghostâ Guerrero (36-6-1, 20 KOs) Â looked sharp against an awkward but stealthy foe in Jerry Thomas (14-2-1, 8 KOs) of Kansas and won by unanimous decision after 10 rounds in a welterweight clash.
Thomas had a jitterbug type of defense and though it was tough to gauge, Guerrero has seen every type of style in his near 20-year career and pummeled the body. And when there was any doubt, he pummeled the body again.
Guerrero was in control for almost all 10 rounds but Thomas had his best round in the ninth round when he changed gears from all-defense to all-offense. The braided Thomas landed some flush uppercuts from the left and right and would not allow Guerrero to counter. Still, Guerrero slipped out of the attack and the round came to a conclusion. It was the only round Guerrero did not win.
Two judges scored it 99-91 and another 98-92 for Guerrero who fights out of Gilroy, Calif. the site of the assault by gunfire that took the lives of four at a Garlic Festival in August. Guerrero pledged to give part of his purse to the victimâs families.
Prelims
Michiganâs hard-hitting super welterweight Joey Spencer (9-0, 7 KOs) clobbered Travis Gambardella (5-1-2, 2 KOs) with body shots and double hooks to the head, dropping the Northeasterner three times in two rounds. Then Gambardella buckled down and fought back, connecting with a right that made Spencer pause. It looked like a competitive fight was on the horizon in the third round but when Spencer connected with a left hook to the head, referee Ray Corona stopped the fight. Gambardella argued to keep going but the fight was ruled over at 56 seconds of round three.
âHe had been down three times. I think the ref didnât want another tragic event and stopped the fight,â said Spencer.
Michoacanâs Jose âEl Rayoâ Valenzuela (5-0, 2 KOs), a southpaw, fired a double left cross to knock out Charles Clark (2-5-1, 1 KO) of Dallas in the first round of a super featherweight bout. After some tentative exchanges, Valenzuela and Clark opened up and the Mexican struck fast with a lead left cross and another one as Clark tumbled to the floor. The referee did not bother to count and ended the fight at 1:06 of the first round.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Conor Benn Embarrasses His Detractors, Demolishes Vargas in 80 Seconds

Conor Benn fought Samuel Vargas in London today (Saturday, April 10). Although Benn was a solid favorite, he was stepping up in class. Vargas, a 31-year-old Canadian via Columbia, brought a 31-6-2 record. He had been in with the likes of Errol Spence Jr and Danny Garcia and had extended Amir Khan 12 rounds on Khanâs turf in Manchester.
Vargas’s best days were behind him , but the prevailing sentiment was that he would make it interesting, likely taking the fight into the late rounds and perhaps lasting the distance. So much for prevailing sentiment. Benn walked right through him. Vargas couldn’t cope with Benn’s superior speed. He was being battered against the ropes and offering nothing in return when referee Michael Alexander stepped in and waived it off. It was all over in 80 seconds. Benn improved to 18-0 with his 12th win inside the distance.
Benn, 24, is the son of Nigel Benn, a former two-division world champion who was one of Englandâs most celebrated fighters. Conor had a brief amateur career in Australia before turning pro at age 19 in London, the city of his birth. While his record is unblemished, it would be incorrect to say that he passed every test as he was climbing the ladder. His first fight with Cedric Peynaud, a marginally skilled Frenchman, has haunted him.
Benn was knocked down twice in the opening round, but scored two knockdowns of his own late in the 6-round fight and was awarded the decision. Peynaud brought a 5-4-3 record and to say that Conorâs performance was underwhelming would be an understatement. At the finish, his right eye was badly swollen.
Scott Gilfoid offered up the most damning criticism: âTo say that Benn looked poor tonight is being kind. He was absolutely horribleâŠ.The flaws that I saw in Bennâs game tonight are ones that likely wonât go away anytime soonâŠ.His performance has to be viewed as a warning sign that heâs not destined to go far in the sport like his famous father.â
Benn and Peynaud fought on Dec. 13, 2017. This was Bennâs 12th pro fight. He had one more bout under his belt before he and the Frenchman had another go at it. The rematch, scheduled for 10 rounds, took place on July 28, 2018, on a show headlined by the heavyweight match between Dillian Whyte and Joseph Parker.
Benn knocked Peynaud down three times but couldnât finish him. However, the outcome was never in doubt. He won by scores of 98-90 and 98-91 twice.
Trevor McIntyre, a stablemate of the aforementioned Scott Gilfoid (rumor has it that Gilfoid and McIntyre are the same person, and that both are aliases of the owner of the web site where their bylines appear) conceded that Benn showed improvement, but was otherwise unimpressed: â(He) still looked like someone that would be blown away by a halfway decent journeyman fighterâŠ.Bennâs defense was leaky, his hand speed slow, and his movements looked uncoordinated throughout.â
Bennâs most recent fight before tonight came against Sebastian Formella, a sturdy but feather-fisted German who was coming off a 12-round defeat to Shawn Porter, a bout in which he showed great heart but won nary a round. Benn won lopsidedly. The scorecards read 100-91, 99-91, and 98-92.
The mysterious Barry Holbrook, whose byline appears at the same web site as Gilfoid and McIntyre, acknowledged that Benn proved some of his doubters wrong, but wrote that âa top welterweight like Errol Spence, Keith Thurman, Danny Garcia, Terence Crawford, or Vergil Ortiz Jr would have knocked him out. If they didnât score a knockout, they would have battered him to the point where the referee would have needed to stop it.â
The respected British scribe Ron Lewis offered a different take: â(Conor) looked a completely changed fighter from the wild youngster of his early professional career, switching well from head to body, being patient, and picking his spots well.â Lewis did not speculate how Benn would have fared against some of the divisionâs top guns, but certainly hinted that Nigelâs son could become a factor in what is currently a very strong welterweight division.
As today’s showing proved, Mr. Lewis is a more perceptive observer than his counterpart(s) at the web site where Benn has been repeatedly ‘dissed. Nigel’s son has made enormous strides in the last few years. He’s also an interesting character. Having spent much of his formative years living on the Spanish island of Majorca, he’s fluent in Spanish which is always a useful attribute from a marketing standpoint. But as for how good he is, let’s not jump to conclusions, mindful that Samuel Vargas was on the wrong side of the curve, having lost three of his last five heading in.
The question doesn’t yet have a definitive answer, but tonight in London, Conor Benn was very good, very very good.
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Avila Perspective, Chap 130: Jaron âBootsâ Ennis, Super Fly and More

A stacked weekend of marquee fights is led by top American welterweight prospect Jaron âBootsâ Ennis tasked with meeting the challenge of Russiaâs Sergey Lipinets in Connecticut.
The undefeated Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs) faces former super lightweight world titlist Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs) on Saturday April 10, at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville. Showtime will televise the loaded PBC card.
Philadelphiaâs Ennis walks into the boxing ring with all of the physical advantages including height, reach, speed and even more pro fights. But Lipinets does indeed know what itâs like to fight against a world champion.
âI think the opposition that Iâve faced is definitely better than what Ennis has faced. I went 12 rounds with Mikey Garcia and I faced a two-time champion in Lamont Peterson,â said Lipinets. âThose guys have pushed me to the edge before. Ennis has more pro fights than I do, he just hasnât been pushed in the same way in his fights.â
This will be an opportunity for the athletically gifted Ennis to discover if he cracks the elite level.
âIâve been trying to get these types of guys in the ring for about two-and-a-half years. Iâve been trying to get former world champions and top ten guys. It just didnât happen. I finally got my chance and you guys are going to see a whole different animal. A whole different beast. Itâs time for me to do my thing,â said Ennis, 23.
Lipinets, 32, realizes that time is running out and needs a win against an avoided prospect like Ennis to re-introduce himself to the fickle boxing world.
âEnnis is a young and up-and-coming fighter. All we want is a shot at the title and everything that comes with it. A win in this fight will give us all of that. I want to get my crack at the big dogs in the division,â said Lipinets who trains in Southern California.
Both fighters are explosive types with extreme confidence in their abilities.
Superfly
Also on the same fight card, long-reigning IBF super flyweight world titlist Jerwin Ancajas (32-1-2, 22 KOs) yearns to be part of the super flyweight wars that have emerged with fighters Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman âChocolatitoâ Gonzalez, Kazuto Ioka and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai.
The super flyweight division has become one of the hottest in boxing.
âI want to fight whoever is left after the four-man tournament between Rungvisai, Chocolatito, Estrada and (Carlos) Cuadras. Iâm always calling the name of any titleholder in my division, so I would fight Ioka too,â said Ancajas, a Filipino southpaw who has held the IBF super fly title since September 2016. âI want a signature fight because Iâm tired of people criticizing me for not fighting anybody.â
Ancajas, 29, meets Mexicoâs Jonathan Rodriguez (22-1, 16 KOs) another one of those little-known Mexican sluggers that can upset any fighter looking too far ahead.
âAncajas is a great champion, but heâs never faced someone like me. Iâm going to put the pressure on him from the very beginning Saturday night and show him that he has a great Mexican fighter standing in his way,â said Rodriguez.
Early Fights
A welterweight battle between Conor Benn (17-0) and Samuel Vargas (31-6-2) takes place on Saturday April 10, from London. The Matchroom Boxing card will be streamed on DAZN at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.
British-born Benn is the son of the great Nigel Benn and was slated for a showdown with another British prospect Josh Kelly. But that fighter was upended by David Avanesyan this past February who knocked out Kelly. Matchroom Boxing had to re-arrange somethings and now itâs Benn versus Vargas.
Vargas is tough.
The last time we saw Vargas he was getting clobbered by knockout artist Vergil Ortiz Jr. but never touched the floor. Whoever fights Vargas learns quickly that heâs a dangerous fighter with a head made of steel.
Does Benn have enough boxing skills to switch to plan B when a knockout win isnât possible?
We shall see.
On the same card two female world title fights take place with the vacant WBA bantamweight title up for grabs between Englandâs Shannon Courtenay and Australiaâs Ebanie Bridges. Also, WBO middleweight titlist Savannah Marshall defends against Maria Lindberg.
Light Heavyweight Title
A fight for the vacant WBO light heavyweight title will try and take place again when Joe Smith Jr. (26-3, 21 KOs) the hard-hitting blue-collar worker from Long Island takes his hammer fists to Tulsa, Oklahoma to face Max Vlasov (45-3, 26 KOs) on Saturday April 10. ESPN will show the Top Rank fight card.
They tried fighting each other before but the coronavirus epidemic knocked the first attempt out of the water. Here they go again.
Smith, 31, has tried before and been defeated before. But every time someone thinks its all over for the construction worker, he knocks somebody out to regain a footing. He knocked out former champion Eleider Alvarez and defeated Jesse Hart to get to this spot.
Vlasov, 34, has been around for many years and displays an aptitude for doing whatâs necessary to survive. Can he find that same ingredient to fend off Smith?
It should be a worthy world title fight.
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Jaron âBootsâ Ennis Advancing to Heights Beyond What His Brothers Achieved

Is fast-rising welterweight contender Jaron âBootsâ Ennis the Next Big Thing in boxingâs deepest and arguably best division? To hear veteran Showtime analyst Steve Farhood tell it, the 23-year-old Philadelphian just might be, with his already blue-chip stock apt to increase in value should he take care of business Saturday night against Sergey Lipinets in the Showtime Championship Boxing main event at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn.
âI think so much of him, I believe he will not only win his stiffest test, but win impressively,â Farhood said of the youngest and best of the three Ennis brothers to box professionally. âAnd when he does, thatâll show he belongs with the very best of the welterweights.â
Asked what the immediate future might hold for Ennis (26-0, 24 KOs) should the young knockout artist do unto the 32-year-old Lipinets (16-1-1, 12 KOs) what he did to 16 of his 17 most recent opponents, which is to win inside the distance, Farhood opined that the door to indisputably elite status could swing open sooner rather than later.
âNow that fighters are fighting again (as COVID-19 concerns begin to lift), I would say within a year,â Farhood predicted. âAfter Lipinets, is there really a point in moving backward? I think Boots and Danny Garcia obviously would be a very special fight in Philadelphia. A Garcia, a Shawn Porter or a Keith Thurman, fighters on that level, are all within reach over the next 12 months, if he looks dominant against Lipinets, which I believe he will.â
Should Boots meet or exceed Farhoodâs most optimistic projections, a vision shared by his father-trainer, Derrick âBozyâ Ennis, a down-the-road showdown with either or both of the 147-pound weight divisionâs superstars, Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr., could await. But the family patriarch expects some of the bigger names to be unavailable to his son, for one reason or another.
âDanny donât want to fight my son,â Bozy said. âDanny wouldnât even spar with my son. And Shawn Porter already said, `I ainât fighting Boots Ennis. I know his father, I know his brothers. The only way Iâd take that fight is if he keeps calling me out. But otherwise Iâm not fighting that young killer if I donât have to. Heâs too fast, too slick.â
âSome of the top guys are talking about moving up (to junior middleweight), so weâd still have a shot at one of those titles if they open up. Spence is talking about going to 154 if he doesnât get certain fights. Now, he did say he might fight Boots down the line. Iâll give him credit for that. Crawford? Heâs not interested in fighting Boots. His people already said that. All I can say is that some of these guys, they either got to s— or get off the pot and move on. If need be, weâll go after (Yordenis) Ugas and Jamal James. Theyâre top guys.â
Big talk, of course, is cheap and means nothing if not backed up by in the ring. The suggestions Bozy Ennis is tossing around like confetti that some of the premier welterweights are avoiding Boots as if he were a communicable disease might or might not be accurate. One thing, though, is certain: the highest aspirations that members of the Ennis family are now reserving for its brightly shining baby boy were also once held for Bootsâ older brothers Derek âPoohâ Ennis and Farah Ennis, both of whom made it part of the way up the ladder to the big time before their careers stalled.
Pooh, the eldest brother whose last pro bout was in 2014, compiled a 24-5-1 record with 13 KO victories competing in the super welterweight and middleweight classifications, along the way holding the Pennsylvania and USBA 154-pound championships. Farah, who briefly was the NABF 168-pound titlist, was 22-2 with 12 KOs and hasnât fought since 2015.
In a 2018 interview, Bozy said the gap separating Boots and his brothers mostly owes to little brother taking care not to make some of the mistakes his siblings made.
âDerek and Farah talk to Jaron all the time, which helps,â Bozy said then. âThey say, `Donât do what I did when I was younger, when I had a chance to be better than I was.â My older boys had talent, but they werenât always as focused as they should have been. They let the women get to them. Hey, it happens.â
Familial genetics, however, is not always a true indicator of outcome. Henry and Tommie Aaron hold Major League Baseballâs record for combined home runs by brothers with 768, but Hammerinâ Hank had 755 of them to Tommieâs 13. Jose and Ozzie are identical twins, but Jose blasted 462 homers over 17 MLB seasons while Ozzie, two inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter, failed to go deep even once in his three seasons in The Show. Focus and dedication are factors in any athleteâs success, sure, but talent is not always evenly distributed among blood relatives.
âThe two older brothers both got beat on ShoBox, interestingly,â recalled Farhood. âI think the difference between Boots and them is just natural talent.
âYou often see in basketball that the son of a coach is a point guard. Kids like that have a comfort level and feel for the game. I get that same impression with Boots. Growing up around Bozy, being around in the gym literally from the time he was a baby, his upbringing shows. But itâs not only that. He has a lot of natural ability to go with that lifetime of familiarity with boxing. You put all that together and you get what looks like the perfect package.â
Predictions of future stardom were made early on for Boots Ennis, who was widely considered to be the best young fighter to come out of Philly since Meldrick Taylor was a 17-year-old gold medalist at the 1984 Olympics and went on to win world titles at both junior welterweight and welterweight. Some prodigies can sag under such heavy expectations, but to date Boots seems to have embraced his role as the emerging face of Philadelphia boxing.
âBeing in the main event on Showtime brings more attention, but I like it,â he said in the lead-up to his important 12-round matchup with the capable Lipinets, which some knowledgeable insiders view as an almost pick âem fight. âI like being in the spotlight. I like to shine, so itâs nothing new. Now itâs fight time. I am locked in and ready to rock and roll.â
Boots Ennis comes in either on a 16-fight knockout streak, or not. In his most recent ring appearance, against veteran South African southpaw Chris van Heerden, a clash of heads in the first round caused a severe cut to van Heerdenâs forehead and the bout being declared a no-contest. Whether that NC ended the impressive run of early endings or not is a matter of opinion, not that it matters to Boots in any case.
âSome people might look at a knockout on April 10 as the 17th consecutive knockout. Some might view it as the start of a new knockout streak,â he said. âFor me, I donât really care as long as I come out victorious. Thatâs all that matters to me. Iâm not looking for a knockout, but Iâm going to take it if it comes.â
Despite his burgeoning reputation as a power puncher, Boots believes his best days as a lights-out finisher are still ahead.
âI donât feel I have my man strength yet,â he offered. âI feel it will be one or two more years until I fully have my man strength. The crazy part is, I feel like in a fight, I still havenât thrown a real power shot and really sat down on a punch yet. Everything Iâve been knocking guys out with has been all-natural strength.â
Again, Saturday nightâs outcome is hardly a fait accompli. Although Boots is ranked No. 7 by the WBO, No. 9 by the IBF and No. 12 by the WBC, the Kazakhstan-born, California-based Lipinets matches or exceeds those ratings, currently as the IBFâs No. 3 contender, and No. 9 by both the WBO and The Ring magazine. But, with advantages of three inches in height and a whopping seven inches in reach for Boots, the fight could be a virtual replay of the taller, longer-armed Jamel Herringâs almost casual dismissal of Carl Frampton last week.
âHeâs very confident, sure, but thatâs all right if he can back it up,â Farhood said of Ennis. âTo me, the ultimate test of a really hot prospect is when he moves up in class. Does he just win, or does he win more impressively than what a lot of people anticipated? So far, for each step along the way, for Boots the answer has been yes. I think it will be again Saturday night.â
Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME
A New Orleans native, Bernard Fernandez retired in 2012 after a 43-year career as a newspaper sports writer, the last 28 years with the Philadelphia Daily News. A former five-term president of the Boxing Writers Association of America, Fernandez won the BWAAâs Nat Fleischer Award for Excellence in Boxing Journalism in 1998 and the Barney Nagler Award for Long and Meritorious Service in 2015. In December of 2019, Fernandez was accorded the highest honor for a boxing writer when he was named to the International Boxing Hall of Fame with the Class of 2020. Last year, Fernandezâs anthology, âChampionship Rounds,â was released by RKMA Publishing.
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