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HITS and MISSES on the Final Weekend of 2019

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There wasn’t a ton of action available to consume over the last weekend of 2019, so all eyes were turned toward Showtime to witness undefeated two-time junior lightweight titleholder Gervonta Davis take on Cuban slugger Yuriorkis Gamboa in a hotly anticipated lightweight bout for a secondary world title.

Davis, 25, from Baltimore, knocked the 38-year-old Gamboa down three times on his way to a one-sided 12th-round stoppage in front of a raucous crowd on Saturday night at State Farm Arena in Atlanta.

The undercard was solid with elder statesmen Jean Pascal defeating Badou Jack via split decision in an important light heavyweight scrap, and Lionell Thompson winning a 10-round decision over former IBF titleholder Jose Uzcategui at super middleweight.

Here are the biggest HITS and MISSES from Showtime’s Davis-Gamboa card.

HIT: The Superstar Potential of Gervonta Davis

He wins fights. He sells tickets. He knocks people out. What more could you really want from Davis at this point in his career?

Sure, headed into Saturday night most people thought that Davis would stop the talented but diminished former featherweight champion in short order. Davis knocked Gamboa down all around the ring in Atlanta, but it took 12 rounds to score the stoppage.

But since when do we knock fighters like Davis for moving up in weight to dominate former champions like Gamboa? And how could it happen here after seeing the brave effort Gamboa put forth, one in which the fighter suffered a serious leg injury in the second round?

Davis truly appears to be on his way to becoming one of the very best fighters in the sport. His explosive ferocity and incredible ability to outslug dangerous punchers are just a couple of the things that will help him make him a huge draw in the sport.

Still just 25, Davis might not win every single fight exactly the way we think he should. But he’s very much on his way to becoming whatever he can ultimately be and it sure looks like he can become something really special.

MISS: Unsorted Issues That Might Hold Davis Back

Now that Davis has been praised as one of the best and brightest lights in all of boxing, it’s important to note something that the fighter and his handlers absolutely should turn their eyes toward moving forward.

On Friday, Davis missed the 135-pound lightweight limit by 1.2 pounds. He was given two additional hours to make weight, and he came back to the scale 134.8 pounds.

The crisis was averted, but something is amiss when a fighter like Davis moves up to a new weight class for the first time in his career and still needs two more hours to get the job done on the scale.

That something is very likely some kind of order missing from his life. Fighters, after all, almost always have to fight their way up out of difficult and potentially disordered situations.

It’s a huge part of what makes us identify with them.

But it’s important for potential superstar athletes like Davis to grow and learn along the way. For him to reach his absolute potential as a prizefighter, he’ll definitely need to sort through all the little things that could end up holding him back.

Because little things grow into big things when left unchecked.

HIT: Showtime Streaming Elite Undercard Action on YouTube 

Showtime might find itself in some pretty deep trouble during the coming years as far as boxing goes.

But considering how far the once-mighty network has fallen in comparison to the rising triad of new competitors Fox Sports, ESPN and DAZN, credit should be given to the executives over at Showtime for not going down without a fight.

People sometimes forget, but Showtime was a true innovator in regards to using YouTube to stream important fights from around the world. Again, it appears the New York-based media giant innovated in the space again on Saturday night when it offered some pretty elite undercard fights via YouTube before the start of the Davis-Gamboa card on Showtime.

Junior welterweight Malik Hawkins fifth-round stoppage of fellow prospect Darwin Price and junior featherweight up-and-comer Angelo Leo’s eleventh-round demolition of former titleholder challenger Cesar Juarez were a cut above as far as undercard fights go.

In fact, on their own, these two contests seemed more like a solid “ShoBox: The Next Generation” card than undercard bouts.

Instead, these important fights were streamed live and free via YouTube. Sure, it might not be the kind of thing that ultimately wins the war for Showtime, but it’s at least something to help keep them in the game headed into 2020.

MISS: Badou Jack’s Late Starts in Big Fights

Badou Jack is a real throwback fighter. He’s smart. He’s resilient. He’s crafty. Those things and more have served him well over the course of his career, and he should absolutely be commended for them.

But how many big fights has Jack stormed back over the second half only to see the victory slip away from him at the very last moment?

After suffering the split-decision loss to Pascal on Saturday, it’s happened at least four times now. Lucien Bute, James DeGale, Adonis Stevenson and now Pascal have all seen the best version of Jack only emerge after he fell behind. Jack is now 1-1-2 across those four, with the only victory in the group coming after Bute failed a PED drug test to overturn the judges’ draw to a commission-issued disqualification.

Maybe Jack just happens to fight in the wrong era?  Imagine how effective the 36-year-old might have been during the era of 15 rounders?

Or maybe this guy just starts too late too often and has never really taken any steps to correct it.

HIT: Boxing Channel Alum Ray Flores and Steve Farhood

If you watched Showtime’s YouTube stream featuring Hawkins-Price and Leo-Juarez, you heard the action being called by Boxing Channel alumnus Ray Flores and Steve Farhood.

Flores and Farhood make a great team. Flores has a golden voice for play-by-play duties, and it’s the kind that can’t be taught. People are either born with it or they aren’t, and Flores was. Moreover, he’s been one of the most underrated people in our sport for a long while. It’s great to see him finally get so much work.

Pairing him with Farhood made for some good watching. The Hall of Famer is one of the most influential, knowledgeable and respected figures in the sport and one of the best journalists of the last half-century.

Perhaps the most impressive thing to me was that they were calling the fights so far away from ringside. That’s something that happens in boxing on occasion, but it almost always doesn’t work.

In this case, it did, thanks to Flores and Farhood, two of the best callers of action in the sport today.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME

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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

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In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th round, Argentina’s Fernando Daniel Martinez came off the deck to win his rematch with Kazuto Ioka and retain his piece of the world 115-pound title. The match was staged at Ioka’s familiar stomping grounds, the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo.

In their first meeting on July 7 of last year in Tokyo, Martinez was returned the winner on scores of 117-111, 116-112, and a bizarre 120-108. The rematch was slated for late December, but Martinez took ill a few hours before the weigh-in and the bout was postponed.

The 33-year-old Martinez, who came in sporting a 17-0 (9) record, was a 7-2 favorite to win the sequel, but there were plenty of reasons to favor Ioka, 36, aside from his home field advantage. The first Japanese male fighter to win world titles in four weight classes, Ioka was 3-0 in rematches and his long-time trainer Ismael Salas was on a nice roll. Salas was 2-0 last weekend in Times Square, having handled upset-maker Rolly Romero and Reito Tsutsumi who was making his pro debut.

But the fourth time was not a charm for Ioka (31-4-1) who seemingly pulled the fight out of the fire in round 10 when he pitched the Argentine to the canvas with a pair of left hooks, but then wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum swing.

Martinez set a fast pace and had Ioka fighting off his back foot for much of the fight. Beginning in round seven, Martinez looked fatigued, but the Argentine was conserving his energy for the championship rounds. In the end, he won the bout on all three cards: 114-113, 116-112, 117-110.

Up next for Fernando Martinez may be a date with fellow unbeaten Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, the lineal champion at 115. San Antonio’s Rodriguez is a huge favorite to keep his title when he defends against South Africa’s obscure Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.

As for Ioka, had he won today’s rematch, that may have gotten him over the hump in so far as making it into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. True, winning titles in four weight classes is no great shakes when the bookends are only 10 pounds apart, but Ioka is still a worthy candidate.

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Emanuel Navarrete Survives a Bloody Battle with Charly Suarez in San Diego

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In a torrid battle Mexico’s Emanuel “Vaquero” Navarrete and his staccato attack staved off the herky-jerky non-stop assaults of Philippine’s Charly Suarez to win by technical decision and retain the WBO super feather world title on Saturday.

What do they feed these guys?

Navarrete (40-2-1, 32 KOs) and his elongated arms managed to connect enough to compensate against the surprising Suarez (18-1, 10 KOs) who wowed the crowd at Pechanga Arena in San Diego.

An accidental clash of heads opened a cut on the side of Navarrete’s left eye and forced a stoppage midway through the fight.

From the opening round Navarrete used his windmill style of attack with punches from different angles that caught Suarez multiple times early. It did not matter. Suarez fired back with impunity and was just as hungry to punch it out with the Mexican fighter.

It was savage.

Every time Navarrete connected solidly, he seemed to pause and check out the damage. Bad idea. Suarez would immediately counter with bombs of his own and surprise the champion with his resilience and tenacity.

Wherever they found Suarez they should look for more, because the Filipino fighter from Manila was ferocious and never out of his depth.

Around the sixth round the Mexican fighter seemed a little drained and puzzled at the tireless attacks coming from Suarez. During an exchange of blows a cut opened up on Navarrete and it was ruled an accidental clash of heads by the referee. Blood streamed down the side of Navarrete’s face and it was cleared by the ringside physician.

But at the opening of the eighth round, the fight was stopped and the ringside physician ruled the cut was too bad to continue. The California State Athletic Commission looked at tape of the round when the cut opened to decipher if it was an accidental butt or a punch that caused the cut. It was unclear so the referee’s call of accidental clash of heads stood as the final ruling.

Score cards from the judges saw Navarrete the winner by scores of 78-75, 77-76 twice. He retains the WBO title.

Interim IBF Lightweight Title

The sharp-shooting Raymond “Danger” Muratalla (23-0, 17 KOs) maneuvered past Russia’s Zaur Abdullaev (20-2, 12 KOs) by unanimous decision to win the interim IBF lightweight title after 12 rounds.

Both fighters were strategic in their approach with Muratalla switching from orthodox to southpaw at various times of the fight. Neither fighter was ever able to dominant any round.

Defense proved the difference between the two lightweights. Muratalla was able to slip more blows than Abdullaev and that proved the difference. The fighter from Fontana, California was able to pierce Abdullaev’s guard more often than not, especially with counter punches.

Abdullaev was never out of the fight. The Russian fighter was able to change tactics and counter the counters midway through the fight. It proved effective especially to the body. But it was not enough to offset Muratalla’s accuracy.

There were no knockdowns and after 12 rounds the judges scored it 118-110, 119-109 twice for Muratalla who now becomes the mandatory for the IBF lightweight title should Vasyl Lomachenko return to defend it.

Muratalla was brief.

“He was a tough fighter,” said Muratalla. “My defense is something I work on a lot.”

Perla Wins

Super flyweight Perla Bazaldua (2-0) eased past Mona Ward (0-2) with a polished display of fighting at length and inside.

Combination punching and defense allowed Bazaldua to punch in-between Ward’s attacks and force the St. Louis fighter to clinch repeatedly. But Ward hung in there despite taking a lot of blows. After four rounds the Los Angeles-based Bazaldua was scored the winner 40-36 on all three cards. Bazaldua signed a long term contract with Top Rank in March.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

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Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.

Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.

In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.

Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.

Semi-Wind-Up

Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.

Other Bouts of Note

In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.

In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.

Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.

A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).

Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry

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