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Beterbiev Embellishes His Claim as Top Light Heavy in Stopping Gvozdyk

Minutes after Artur Beterbiev had scored three knockdowns of Oleksandr Gvozdyk that did count in the 10th round, prompting referee Gary Rosato to wave an end to an historic and entertaining light heavyweight bout, someone asked the winner if he knew he was actually behind on two of the three official scorecards at the time of the stoppage.
The bearded, Montreal-based Russian, who now has won all 15 of his professional outings inside the distance, didnât seem to mind or care that he might have been in danger of losing on points, had it come to that. When you are accustomed to scoring knockouts, taking the outcome out of the hands of judges with pencils, the perhaps natural tendency is to assume that the familiar pattern will again play itself out as it always had.
âFirst knockdown, second knockdown, third knockdown, I donât count,â Beterbiev said of a performance that wasnât exactly flawless, but nonetheless might have embellished his claim of being the best 175-pound on the planet. âI am just working. I just continue working until the referee stop it.â
Now, about that bit of history that was made Friday night, before a pro-Gvozdyk on-site turnout of 3,283 in the Liacouras Center on Temple Universityâs North Philadelphia campus, and an ESPN viewing audience. It marked the just the fifth unification of the light heavyweight division since 2000. No fighter has held all four alphabet-organization titles since the dawn of the 21st century, something Beterbiev is eager to correct and Top Rank founder and CEO Bob Arum is just as eager to help him accomplish moving forward. Now that Beterbiev has added Gvozdykâs WBC strap to the IBF belt he already held, not to mention the lineal title that also had belonged to the slick-boxing Ukrainian, Beterbiev believes he deserves to be more widely acknowledged as best of the best.
Although Beterbievâs next fight, early in 2020, almost certainly will come against his IBF mandatory challenger, Chinaâs Meng Fanlong (16-0, 10 KOs), he envisions more unification showdowns, against WBA champ Dmitry Bivol (17-0, 11 KOs) and the winner of the Nov. 2 pairing of WBO ruler and fellow Russian Sergey Kovalev (34-3-1, 29 KOs) and WBA/WBC middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 35 KOs), especially if the survivor is Kovalev.
âUnification or mandatory, it doesnât matter,â Beterbiev said. âI just continue. Iâm focused on titles, not names.â
There might also be a rematch with Gvozdyk (17-1, 14 KOs) to be fitted into his schedule at some point, given the fact that âThe Nailâ actually led on the scorecards of judges John McKaie (87-84) and Ron McNair (86-85) through the nine completed rounds. John Poturaj was the dissenter, having Beterbiev ahead by 87-83.
Punch statistics seemingly did not support the tallies of McKaie and McNair, as Beterbiev outlanded Gvozdyk, 161 to 118, in total punches and 113-94 on power shots. But statistics alone do not tell the story; although Gvozdyk had his moments, Beterbiev did not seem visibly affected when he was on the receiving end. The same could not be said of Gvozdyk, who clinched often in the ninth round and visibly appeared to be gassed and hurting prior to the climactic 10th.
âGvozdyk was outboxing him early, but the `Beastâ just wore him down and finally took him out,â said Bob Arum, who has both fighters in his deep promotional stable. âHeâs one of the strongest light heavyweights Iâve ever seen. He has tremendous energy, takes a great punch and stays in there until he finally wears his opponent out.â
It also would appear that Beterbiev is not easily distracted, as evidenced by what happened in the closing moments of the first round, which Gvozdyk appeared to be winning. When Beterbiev wrestled Gvozdyk to the canvas without a punch being thrown, Rosato initiated a count, potentially turning a 10-9 round for Gvozdyk into a 10-8 for Beterbiev. Greg Sirb, head of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, quickly ruled that there had been no knockdown, but the possibility of a three-point swing in the very first round might have been unnerving to a lot of fighters. Not so with Beterbiev.
Twice more before the fateful 10th did Gvozdyk wind up on the deck, both times being ruled slips by Rosato, whom, Arum said, âdidnât cover himself in glory the whole fight.â
Despite the disappointingly small attendance — a majority of attendees apparently Ukrainian expatriates or visitors to the U.S. — the main event drew a Whoâs Who of boxing notables: Tyson Fury, Bernard Hopkins, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk, Andre Ward, Teofimo Lopez, Jarrell âBig Babyâ Miller, Richard Commey, Paulie Malignaggi and Jesse Hart.
In other bouts:
*The ESPN-televised lead-in to Beterbiev-Gvozdyk also was a star turn of sorts for Uzbekistani welterweight Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (17-0, 9 KOs), the IBFâs No. 1 contender who took a wide nine-round (yes, thatâs right) unanimous decision over Luis Collazo (39-8, 20 KOs), the 38-year-old former WBA 147-pound title-holder from Brooklyn. An unintentional clash of heads in the 10th round opened a nasty cut in Collazoâs right eyelid, a companion piece to the cut above the left eye he had suffered earlier in the fight. If all that wasnât enough, Collazo, a southpaw, appeared to have injured his left bicep in the fifth round.
âI would like to fight for the title next,â said Abdukakhorov, whose No. 1 ranking puts him at or near the front of the line for a shot at IBF champion Errol Spence Jr., who is recovering from a recent automobile accident. âIf heâs ready to fight soon, I would like to fight him. If he has to vacate the title, then I will fight whoever they put in front of me.â
*Brothers Joseph Adorno and Jeremy Adorno, both from Allentown, Pa., continued to look like future stars. Joseph (14-0, 12 KOs), a 20-year-old lightweight, floored Argentinaâs Damian Sosa (9-3, 7 KOs) twice en route to an emphatic first-round stoppage, while Jeremy (3-0, 1 KO), an 18-year-old super bantamweight, was never pressed in scoring a four-round unanimous decision over Misael Reyes (1-3), of Kansas City, Kan.
*South Philadelphia heavyweight Sonny âThe Broncoâ Conto (5-0, 4 KOs), a sparring partner of lineal champion Tyson Fury, gave local fans something to cheer about, if only briefly, when opponent Steve Lyons (5-6, 2 KOs), from Larose, La., embarrassed himself by quitting on his stool after the first round of a scheduled four-rounder. Â During the three minutes during which Lyons gave the impression that heâd rather be back on the bayou, Conto landed a couple of hard, snapping jabs and pronounced himself as having the best in the division other than Furyâs. âHeâs the present, Iâm the future,â Conto said of Fury, who accompanied him during his ring walk.
*Julian âHammer Handsâ Rodriguez (14-0, 12 KOs), a super lightweight from Hasbrouck Heights, N.J., put Leonardo Doronio (17-17-3, 11 KOs) down and out with a nifty left hook to the jaw in the sixth round of a scheduled six-rounder.
*Super lightweight Josue Vargas (15-1, 9 KOs), of the Bronx, N.Y., pitched an eight-round shutout at Johnny Rodriguez (9-5-1, 6 KOs), of Denver, winning by 80-72 margins on all three scorecards. Vargas also registered a flash knockdown in in round two, so perhaps he was even shorted a point on those cards.
*On a night where light heavyweights topped the marquee, Michael Seals (24-2, 18 KOs), of Atlanta, did his best to drop his name into the mix of future challengers with a one-round stoppage of Argentinaâs Elio Trosch (14-9-2, 7 KOs), the put-away coming on a left hook off a right cross.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank
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Johnny Famechon was a Hero in Australia Where Willie Pep Had a Bad Night

Willie Pep was good at boxing. He wasnât so good at math. Ah, but hold the phone; we are getting ahead of ourselves. This isnât a story about Willie Pep, but about former world featherweight champion Johnny Famechon who passed away last Thursday, Aug. 4, in Melbourne, Australia, at age 77.
Famechon was five years old when his parents left his birthplace in Paris and settled in Melbourne. He came to the fore in an era when boxing was still a mainstream sport and home-grown champions were national idols. The locals turned out in droves for the parade in Johnnyâs honor when he returned to Melbourne after taking the featherweight crown from the Cuban-born Spaniard Jose Legra in a big upset at Londonâs Prince Albert Hall.

Famechon’s Welcome Home Parade
Famechonâs first title defense came against Japanâs Fighting Harada. They met in Sydney, Australia, on July 28, 1969.
At age 26, Harada was a battle-tested veteran. He previously held world titles at flyweight and bantamweight and would be remembered as the only man to defeat the great Brazilian boxer Eder Jofre, a feat he accomplished not once, but twice.
Only two boxers in history â Bob Fitzsimmons and Henry Armstrong â had won world titles in three of the eight classic weight divisions. Harada, who entered the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1995, was bidding to become the third.
Team Harada insisted on a neutral referee. The British promoters chose Willie Pep. A legend in the sport, Pep had previously shared a ring with another Famechon, having out-pointed Johnnyâs uncle Ray Famechon in a featherweight title defense at Madison Square Garden in 1950.
Some thought that Pep would favor Fighting Harada. American referees put a higher premium on aggression than did their foreign counterparts and Harada was a little buzzsaw who rarely took a backward step. But others thought that Pepâs selection favored Famechon, an elusive counterpuncher with whom the Connecticut âWill-âo-Wispâ could identify; their styles were similar.
Pep had been the third man in the ring for four previous title fights, three in Jamaica and one in Brazil. But this fight would be different. He would be the sole arbiter. If the fight went the full 15 rounds, Willie Pep would be the judge and jury.
During the bout, Famechon scored one knockdown, sending Harada to the canvas in round five, but Harada scored three, knocking Famechon down in rounds two, 11, and 14. The last of the three knockdowns was the harshest, but Famechon made it to the final bell.
The fight ended in a clinch. Immediately upon separating the fighters, Pep raised both of their hands, a signal that the fight was a draw.
Fighting Haradaâs handlers were outraged and demanded to see the scorecard. A policeman at ringside was empowered to give it a look-over (Australia had no boxing commission). What the policeman found was that there was indeed a discrepancy. However, it was the opposite of what Team Harada anticipated!
The fight was scored on the antiquated system whereby the winner of a round was awarded five points and the loser four points or less. In the case of an even round, both fighters got five points.
After 13 rounds, Fighting Harada had amassed 59 points on Pepâs card. He won the 14th round, giving him an aggregate total of 64 points. But when Pep added up the numbers â59â and â5â in the column where he kept the aggregate total, he came up with â65.â
Oops.
When Pep signaled that the fight was a draw, people stormed the ring from all sides. Newspaper reports said the belligerents were about evenly divided. Famechon, the Aussie, was the crowd favorite, but Fighting Harada was well-backed in the betting markets, a very big industry in Australia. Many were even angrier when Famechon was summoned back to the ring to have his hand raised.
The Famechon-Harada fight aired live on Japanese television. In Japan, there was a great outpouring of outrage. Pep had been instructed to score a round 5-4 if the round was narrow and 5-3 if there was a clear-cut winner. Despite the knockdowns, Pep scored every round 5-4 or 5-5. In the revised tally, he had Famechon winning 6-5-4 in rounds.
âHarada loses to refereeâ was the headline in Japanâs leading sports daily. Willie Pep made no friends in Australia either. There were shouts of âYankee go homeâ as he left the ring.
Famechon and Harada met again five months later in Tokyo. One would assume that Fighting Harada proved superior and got a fair shake, winning the third title denied him in Sydney. But donât assume.
Harada was well ahead after ten rounds but faded. On the deck in round 10, Famachon returned the favor three rounds later, knocking Harada down hard with a perfectly placed left hook. Harada was in dire straights when he came out for round 14 and Famechon put him away.
Harada never fought again and Famechon left the sport six months later after losing his crown to Vicente Saldivar. Johnny was only 25 years old, but had crammed 67 fights into a nine-year pro career and said enough is enough.
Famechonâs post-boxing life took a tragic turn in 1991 when he was hit by a car while out jogging on a Sydney highway. He spent several weeks in a coma and several years in a wheelchair but eventually recovered most of his motor skills and regained his speech to the point where he could serve as a boxing color commentator on television. In 2018, a larger-than- life statue of Famechon was unveiled at a public park in the Melbourne suburb of Frankston where he was a longtime resident.
For the record, Johnny Famechon finished his career with a record of 56-5-6 with 20 KOs. We here at The Sweet Science send our condolences to his loved ones.
Arne K. Langâs latest book, titled âGeorge Dixon, Terry McGovern and the Culture of Boxing in America, 1890-1910,â will shortly roll off the press. The book, published by McFarland, can be pre-ordered directly from the publisher (https://mcfarlandbooks.com/product/clashof-the-little-giants) or via Amazon.
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Fast Results from Fort Worth Where Vergil Ortiz Jr Won His 19th Straight by KO

In a match pushed back from March 19, Vergil Ortiz Jr moved one step closer to a mega-fight with Terence âBudâ Crawford or Errol Spence Jr or Boots Ennis with a ninth-round stoppage of Englandâs feather-fisted Michael McKinson. The end came 20 seconds into round nine when McKinson appeared to injure his knee as he fell to the canvas, an apparent residue of the body punch that put him on the deck late in the previous stanza. To that point, Ortiz had seemingly won every round.
It was the 19th win inside the distance in as many opportunities for Ortiz who resides in nearby Grand Prairie and was making his first start with new trainer Manny Robles. McKinson was undefeated heading in, but had scored only two knockouts while building his record to 22-0.
Ortiz, ranked #1 at welterweight by the WBA and the WBO, pulled out of the March 19 bout after being diagnosed with rhabdomyolysis, a muscle disorder associated with over-training.
Ortizâs promoter, Oscar De La Hoya, says that Ortiz will fight the winner of Errol Spence vs Terence Crawford next assuming that the fight gets made, and if doesnât get made, Ortizâs next fight will be with one or the other. The WBA, which stamped tonight’s fight an eliminator, may push to have Ortiz fight their secondary title-holder, Eimantas Stanionis.
Co-Feature
Houstonâs Marlen Esparza (13-1, 1 KO) successfully defended her WBA/WBC world flyweight title with a unanimous decision over plucky 4â11 œâ Venezuelan southpaw Eva Guzman who had won 14 straight coming in, albeit against soft opposition. The judges had it 98-92 and 99-91 twice.
Guzman (19-2-1) was game, but just didnât have the physical tools to overcome Esparza whose lone defeat came at the hands of talented Seneisa Estrada.
Other Fights of Note
In a 10-round match contested at the catchweight of 150 pounds, Blair âThe Flairâ Cobbs rebounded from his first defeat with a career-best performance, a wide decision over former WBO 140-pound world titlist Maurice Hooker. It was the second straight loss for Hooker who returned to the ring after a 17-month hiatus and came out flat. Cobbs put him on the canvas in the opening frame with a combination and decked him twice more with straight lefts in round two.
Things got somewhat dicey for Cobbs in round five when he suffered a bad gash on his forehead from an accidental head butt, but Hooker, who had stablemate Bud Crawford in his corner, hesitated to let his hands go and couldnât reverse the tide. The judges had it 96-91 and 97-90 twice for the flamboyant Cobbs who improved to 16-1-1 (10). Hooker, a consensus 5/2 favorite, lost for the third time in his last five starts and slumped to 27-3-3.
In the opener to the main portion of the DAZN card, Uzbekistanâs Bektimir Melikuziev (10-1, 8 KOs), a super middleweight growing into a light heavyweight, dominated and stopped overmatched Sladan Janjanin. Melikuziev put Janjanin down with a body punch in the opening minute of the fight and scored two more knockdowns before the bout was halted at the 2:18 mark of round three.
This was Melikuzievâs third fight back after his shocking one-punch annihilation by Gabriel Rosado. Janjanin, a well-traveled Bosnian who fought three weeks ago in Massachusetts, declined to 32-12 and was stopped for the eighth time.
Also
Chicago welterweight Alex Martin (18-4, 6 KOs) overcame a first-round knockdown to win a unanimous decision over 38-year-old Philadelphia journeyman Henry Lundy. The judges had it an unexpectedly wide 98-91, 97-92, 97-92.
Martin was coming off a points loss to McKinson and this bout was his reward for taking that fight on short notice. Lundy (31-11-1) has lost five of his last seven.
Floyd âAustin Kidâ Schofield, a lightweight who appears to have a big upside, advanced to 11-0 (9 KOs) at the expense of Mexican trial horse Rodrigo Guerrero whose corner wisely pulled him out after five one-sided rounds. It was the ninth straight loss for Guerrero (26-15).
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Conlan Wins His Belfast Homecoming; Breezes Past Lackadaisical Marriaga

âThe Return of the Mickâ was the label attached to tonightâs show at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The reference was to local fan favorite Michael âMickâ Conlan who returned to his hometown in hopes of jump-starting his career after suffering his first pro loss in a brutal encounter with Leigh Wood.
In that bout, a strong âFight of the Year contender, Conlan was narrowly ahead on all three cards heading into the 12th and final round when the roof fell in. Wood, who was making the first defense of his WBA world featherweight title on his home turf in Nottingham, knocked the favored Conlan unconscious and clear out of the ring.
This was the sort of fight that can shorten a manâs career. Hence the intrigue in Conlanâs homecoming fight tonight against Miguel Marriaga. On paper, the Colombian, a three-time world title challenger, was a stern test considering the circumstances.
To the contrary, Marriaga had no fire in his belly until the final round when he hit Conlan with a shot that buckled his knees. But, by then Conlan was so far ahead without overly exerting himself that there was virtually no chance of another meltdown.
While Conlan won lopsidedly, the scores â 99-89 and 99-88 twice â were somewhat misleading. True, âMickâ had Marriaga on the deck in rounds 7, 8, and 9, but the punches that put him there did not look particularly hard.
Conlan, 30, improved to 17-1 (8). Marriaga, 35, declined to 30-6.
After the fight, Conlan expressed the hope that Leigh Wood would give him a rematch.
Other Bouts of Note
In an entertaining 10-round welterweight scrap that could have gone either way, Belfastâs Tyrone McKenna (23-3-1, 6 KOs) rebounded from his defeat in Dubai to Regis Prograis (TKO by 6) with a hard-fought unanimous decision over 33-year-old Welshman Chris Jenkins (23-6-3). The judges favored the local fighter by scores of 97-94 and 96-95 twice.
Jenkins, a former British and Commonwealth title-holder, had the best of the early going, working the body effectively while frequently finding a home for his uppercut, but he could not sustain his advantage.
Thirty-four-year-old Belfast super middleweight Padraig McCrory who got a late start in boxing, scored the most important win of his career with a fifth-round stoppage of Marco Antonio Periban, a former world title challenger. McCrory had Periban on the deck three times â once in the second and twice in the fifth â before the bout was halted at the 2:14 mark of round five.
It was the fourth straight win inside the distance for McCrory who improved to 14-0 (8 KOs). Mexicoâs Periban, who returned to the sport in April after missing all of 2020 and 2021, fell to 26-6-1.
Highly-touted welterweight Paddy Donovan improved to 9-0 (6) with an 8-round unanimous decision over Yorkshireman Tom Hall (10-3). The referee scored every round for Donovan, an Irish Traveler trained by Tyson Furyâs bosom buddy Andy Lee, the former world middleweight title-holder.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images
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