Has the U.S. Lost its Presence in Boxing? Part One of a New Survey

Published

5 years ago

March 19, 2020

Ted Sares

Has-the-U.S.-Lost-its-Presence-in-Boxing?-Part-One-of-a-New-Survey

More than 50 boxing notables shared their thoughts in our latest TSS survey. They came from all walks of boxing – former fighters, officials, writers, publicists, commentators, and especially boxing historians. We are listing the respondents alphabetically. PART ONE goes “A” through “L.”

I sincerely thank our respondents for their participation, particularly in these very difficult times.

JIMBO AMATO-author, writer, historian and memorabilia collector: From 175 pounds and up the Americans have faded on the international scene. From 168 down they are well represented. There are many potential big money fights there to made at the international level. This could be a very exciting year for boxing fans if the promoters could get these bouts put together.

RUSS ANBER-elite cornerman, trainer, owner of Rival Boxing Equipment: We need to define “major player in professional boxing” and the US still remains the land of opportunity as it pertains to the big fights and big events. The closest rival is the UK but if it doesn’t involve a UK fighter; they don’t have the same interest. The US is still a major player except there are now more players. The World Boxing Super Series is an example. If you are talking about fighters, the answer is an unequivocal YES. Whether on the amateur or professional scene, the US and many western countries have lost their dominance as a result of the tide of professionals now making their way into the game from the former Soviet Bloc. The amateur game is a glaring example as it becomes a look into the future of what is to come. The US once the most powerful amateur nation in the world has had little success internationally compared to the reign of terror they once had. Two decades ago a top ten in any weight class was filled with Americans. Those numbers have gone down as Eastern fighters have emerged. From the Klitschkos, to Loma, Usyk, Golovkin, Beterbiev, Bivol, etc. All these great fighters have come from countries that didn’t even turn pro a short time ago.

MATT ANDRZJEWSKI-TSS boxing writer: The US has definitely not lost its presence as a major player in boxing. The biggest fights, such as Fury-Wilder II, still mostly take place in the US and there is plenty of activity on a weekly basis in US based shows. The sport is more than alive and well in the United States.

DAVID AVILA-TSS West Coast Bureau Chief: Absolutely not. Without being nationalistic, boxing is thriving more than ever before. Fighters come to the U.S. to make more money and have a bigger presence. Anywhere else is a small pond compared to the U.S. A big example remains the California area remains the Southern California area that boasts more than 100 boxing gyms. Fighters from every part of the world are found in these gyms and get here any way they can. These are facts. Canelo moved from Mexico to the US and makes more money than almost every athlete in the world save baseball player Mike Trout and a few others.

BOB BENOIT-referee, judge, former fighter, and retired Massachusetts State Trooper: Yes, the USA has lost its dominance in World Boxing, thanks to the lack of promotion of pro and amateur boxing. Amateur boxing is run by those who don’t know the difference between a left jab and a right cross.

BRIAN “THE BIZZ” BIZZACK-historian, moderator of “Bizzy On Boxing”: Sadly, I believe this is true. The reasons are many: The collapse of the amateur system, the lack of quality trainers nowadays, the modern-day emergence of professional basketball and football as our primary sports of interest, and last but perhaps not least — the proliferation of sanctioning bodies and ‘world titles’ over the last few decades. This has alienated and confused the more casual mainstream sports fan, and for the young boy or man that once dreamed of capturing a singular WORLD crown (like Louis, Robinson, Marciano, Ali, and many others) what true “glory” is there… in capturing one of four, or god forbid seven or eight???

STEVE CANTON-the face of boxing in Florida: Most definitely. There are no good old-school trainers today who know how to properly train the tried and proven techniques. They are constantly trying to invent new ways and, as a result, we have fighters who can’t really fight. Today, it is two guys standing in front of each other banging away. It is “my turn, your turn” since they don’t know what else to do. When one throws punches the other waits until he is done and then it is their turn to throw punches. Fighters fight so infrequently, there are too many meaningless belts, the best don’t fight the best, too much PED use and cheating in the sport and on and on and on. Meanwhile, around the world fighters are busy, fighting frequently and building big fan bases. I still don’t see much in the way of better technique; I just see more activity which provides more opportunity to fighters in other countries.

ANTHONY CARDINALE-boxing manager, advisor, and nationally prominent defense attorney: I disagree. While many great fighters are coming out of Eastern Europe and Great Britain, we have many more top ten fighters in every weight class from the USA, and many more scheduled professional bouts. That said, one of the problems I see going forward is the practical demise of our amateur boxing programs here. Too many kids are opting to go pro instead of keeping in top international amateur competition which will only help them in the future.

GUY CASALE-former boxer, retired detective: I agree. The U.S. boxers don’t train or have the mindset of the boxers of years ago. Unlike their counterparts, U.S. fighters lack the hunger/drive!

MONTE COX–former boxer, historian: The number of participants in the U.S has greatly declined over the years. Circa 1920 there were 20 boxing shows a week in New York City alone, that’s more than a thousand shows just in the Big Apple. There were less than 600 boxing shows in the entire U.S for the year 2017, the last year I have stats for. A decline in participants means a decline in performance. So yes, boxing has declined.

JILL DIAMOND-WBC International Secretary; WBC Cares Chair: I don’t think there’s any one player or presence anymore. It’s a global sport and the different internet platforms have reinforced that. Having said that, some of the great talent and promoters are from the USA, and Vegas still draws record crowds.

CHARLIE DWYER-former fighter, professional referee, member of US Marines Boxing Hall of Fame: US dominance in boxing diminished since the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. Once the Eastern European fighters were allowed turn pro and leave their countries, the face of professional boxing changed worldwide.

*********************

“Today’s fighters have trainers, assistant trainers, strength and conditioning coaches, nutritionists, spiritual advisors, massage therapists, matchmakers, booking agents, promoters, co-promoters, publicists, cutmen, “better training methods,” and assorted hangers-on and… are tired after a few rounds. Yesterday’s fighters had a trainer and promoter….and they went 15 rounds non-stop. The future is not what it used to be.” — Steve Canton

*********************

RICK FARRIS-former Boxer and President of the West Coast Boxing Hall of Fame: I agree that America has lost its place in both professional & amateur boxing. The last American male to win an Olympic Gold Medal was Andre Ward, who was an exceptional pro & amateur champion. He was the last, and I do not expect better in the future. If not for America being so weak in boxing, Eastern Europe would not be getting any notice, as they are not better than they were, just have less competition. I see little future for America in boxing, except for our females who have carried the torch alone.

BERNARD FERNANDEZ- TSS mainstay, lifetime member of the BWAA and 2020 IBHOF inductee: The United States’ domination of basketball ended, in a way, with the great success of the 1992 “Dream Team.” The world observed, and the world wanted its own Michael Jordan. Now the tide is turning in other international sports, including boxing and tennis. The rest of the planet wants what we have, or had, while the USA dares to think it can become a world power in soccer on a par with Europe and South America. A big reason for the lack of depth in boxing: quality big men, who might have become heavyweights, channeling their energies into football and basketball.

JERRY FITCH-writer, author, and historian: I do think boxing is not a major player in the US anymore, certainly not anywhere near what so many have enjoyed earlier, even 25-30 years ago. I feel boxing started going downhill when more and more alphabet groups were added. Then more weight classes were added. And whether anyone agrees or not I feel young kids nowadays could care less about boxing. Those with athletic ability turn to basketball or football. We have a hard time in Cleveland getting anywhere near 100 kids to enter the Golden Gloves. In the 1950s sometimes 100 kids entered from one gym locally. And there are not nearly enough quality trainers these days.

JEFFREY FREEMAN-(aka KO DIGEST); TSS writer: As evidenced by their deranged, degenerate reaction to Fury-Wilder 2 (on the internet and beyond) it is obvious to me that American fans and media can no longer handle heavyweight championship boxing in America. They make a mockery of it. The sport and its participants are much better served by the British fans and by the British business model for big time professional boxing.

RICK GAGNE-historian: The U.S. isn’t the powerhouse that it was, but we still have more champions than any other country. We never were kings of the little men. Our amateur program has devolved far more than the pros.

CLARENCE GEORGE-writer and historian: The U.S. is still a major player, though perhaps not as major as it once was. A significant change is the location of heavyweight championship fights. But this phenomenon predates Anthony Joshua-Andy Ruiz Jr. II by several decades. Think of Joe Frazier vs. George Foreman in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 22, 1973; Foreman vs. Ken Norton in Caracas, Venezuela, on March 26, 1974; Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali in Kinshasa, Zaire, that October 30; and Ali vs. Frazier in Quezon City, the Philippines, on October 1, 1975. Harrumph — all those bouts should have taken place at Madison Square Garden.

LEE GROVES–writer, author, researcher and CompuBox punch counter: I don’t think the U.S. has lost its presence as a major player but it is sharing the stage with more players. Fighters outside of the U.S. still see value in being seen — and being marketed — in America (see Tyson Fury) but boxing has become an even more global sport thanks to the Internet. To me, the more the merrier. As long as boxing grows, it’s all good.

HENRY HASCUP- boxing historian and President of the New Jersey Boxing Hall of Fame: Up until the late 1960’s the three most popular sports in the US were baseball, horse racing and boxing. Now boxing is way down the list because we have so many other sports that are played or we watch on TV. I believe the fighters are much more popular in some other countries as US major sports stars are in other sports! However, in 2019 the US had a total of 603 shows, which is still more than any other country.

CHUCK HASSON-historian and writer: For over a century U.S. boxing was the pinnacle of world boxing. But in recent years, with the influx of top Eastern European boxers helping to infuse huge interest throughout the continent and terrific fighters from Britain, Ireland, Germany, it has made for a golden age of European boxing. After being behind the U.S. for so long, it’s nice to see them stepping out from under our shadow. But I am hopeful we can take back the mantle soon.

DANNY HOWARD-boxing writer: Boxing is a global sport and the decline of a strong American presence among competitors was only really a talking point for the heavyweight division. This isn’t anything new. The biggest fights in the world still happen in America. Americans aren’t exactly flocking to support their homegrown heroes, they just want blood and guts like every other fight fan, regardless of what language they speak or where they come from.

BRUCE KIELTY–booking agent; boxing historian: There is no question that US boxing continues a long slide downhill. Amateur boxing is on life-support in most areas. Today’s millennials find MMA far more violent and entertaining and perfect for those with minute attention spans. MMA has been successfully marketed as a blood sport and doesn’t have the number of corrupt sanctioning bodies that are such a drag on boxing. Also, boxing during periods of high employment is seen as an unnecessary low-paying and dangerous pursuit.

*********************

“They ought to cut this junk-throwing at boxing. The mollycoddles and pinheads never gave it a square deal.” – John L. Sullivan

*********************

STUART KIRSCHENBAUM-Boxing Commissioner Emeritus, State of Michigan: I agree the US has lost its presence. Once the King of Sports, it’s food chain…young amateur boxers, have virtually dried up. As a way out of ethnic ghettos there are easier ways to success, some not legal. The sport is homeless in the sense that public recreation centers and privately owned gyms with boxing programs are too costly to maintain and liability is too rampart. Regular local boxing shows are rare with the disappearance of promoters willing to risk financial loss and contracted professionals with no venues to develop their careers. Newspapers and TV news have done away with boxing writers. You can never see the top boxers on TV unless you skip paying for your prostate medication and subsidize some temporary millionaire via your cable bill. The average sports fan is clueless who the major boxing champions are.

JIM LAMPLEY-legendary anchor of the HBO broadcasting team; 2015 IBHOF inductee: Obviously it is premature and exaggerated to suggest the US is not a “major player” in boxing or in any other form of entertainment. The audience here is too big for that. Is the nation’s position in the talent pool diminishing?? Maybe, but that has mostly to do with the growth of talent development in other countries. Pacquaio and Mayweather demonstrated the economic pyramid is no longer controlled by heavyweights exclusively, so now the whole planet wants to get on board. It’s the natural momentum of globalism, and it cannot be wished away.

ARNE LANG-TSS editor in chief, author, historian: There are actually three questions here depending on how one chooses to define “lost its presence.” Forgetting Saudi Arabia for the moment, the richest fights are still held on U.S. soil. All foreign pros dream about fighting in the U.S. From a skillfulness standpoint, however, the former Soviet bloc countries have vaulted ahead of us, notably in the four weight divisions from 160 to 200. How do I feel about it? I’m indifferent, but it would be nice to see the USA Olympic team recapture some of its lost glory.

RON LIPTON-former fighter, current pro referee, boxing historian and writer, member of the New Jersey and New York Boxing Hall of Fame and retired police officer: The U.S. has not lost its presence as a major player in professional boxing. The allure to defending your championship in the magic atmosphere of Madison Square Garden will never lose its prestige and luster. The boxing history there is written in stone and has an electricity that you feel and take with you after each major fight show. The fight fans that come to so many venues throughout the U.S. with so many wonderful locales radiating boxing excitement, keep the U.S. at the forefront of boxing excitement on planet earth. I have respect for all the fan loyalty in other countries and what it means to all the boxing fans therein, yet we here in the U.S. feel the same way.

Coming Next: PART TWO (M-W) plus observations.

Photo: Ukrainian stablemates Oleksandr Usyk, Vasyl Lomachenko, and Oleksandr Gvozdyk

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Thomas Hauser’s Literary Notes: Johnny Greaves Tells a Sad Tale

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2025

Thomas Hauser

Johnny Greaves was a professional loser. He had one hundred professional fights between 2007 and 2013, lost 96 of them, scored one knockout, and was stopped short of the distance twelve times. There was no subtlety in how his role was explained to him: “Look, Johnny; professional boxing works two ways. You’re either a ticket-seller and make money for the promoter, in which case you get to win fights. If you don’t sell tickets but can look after yourself a bit, you become an opponent and you fight to lose.”

By losing, he could make upwards of one thousand pounds for a night‘s work.

Greaves grew up with an alcoholic father who beat his children and wife. Johnny learned how to survive the beatings, which is what his career as a fighter would become. He was a scared, angry, often violent child who was expelled from school and found solace in alcohol and drugs.

The fighters Greaves lost to in the pros ran the gamut from inept local favorites to future champions Liam Walsh, Anthony Crolla, Lee Selby, Gavin Rees, and Jack Catterall. Alcohol and drugs remained constants in his life. He fought after drinking, smoking weed, and snorting cocaine on the night before – and sometimes on the day of – a fight. On multiple occasions, he came close to committing suicide. His goal in boxing ultimately became to have one hundred professional fights.

On rare occasions, two professional losers – “journeymen,” they’re called in The UK – are matched against each other. That was how Greaves got three of the four wins on his ledger. On September 29, 2013, he fought the one hundredth and final fight of his career against Dan Carr in London’s famed York Hall. Carr had a 2-42-2 ring record and would finish his career with three wins in ninety outings. Greaves-Carr was a fight that Johnny could win. He emerged triumphant on a four-round decision.

The Johnny Greaves Story, told by Greaves with the help of Adam Darke (Pitch Publishing) tells the whole sordid tale. Some of Greaves’s thoughts follow:

* “We all knew why we were there, and it wasn’t to win. The home fighters were the guys who had sold all the tickets and were deemed to have some talent. We were the scum. We knew our role. Give some young prospect a bit of a workout, keep out of the way of any big shots, lose on points but take home a wedge of cash, and fight again next week.”

* “If you fought too hard and won, then you wouldn’t get booked for any more shows. If you swung for the trees and got cut or knocked out, then you couldn’t fight for another 28 days. So what were you supposed to do? The answer was to LOOK like you were trying to win but be clever in the process. Slip and move, feint, throw little shots that were rangefinders, hold on, waste time. There was an art to this game, and I was quickly learning what a cynical business it was.”

* “The unknown for the journeyman was always how good your opponent might be. He could be a future world champion. Or he might be some hyped-up nightclub bouncer with a big following who was making lots of money for the promoter.”

* “No matter how well I fought, I wasn’t going to be getting any decisions. These fights weren’t scored fairly. The referees and judges understood who the paymasters were and they played the game. What was the point of having a go and being the best version of you if nobody was going to recognize or reward it?”

* “When I first stepped into the professional arena, I believed I was tough. believed that nobody could stop me. But fight by fight, those ideas were being challenged and broken down. Once you know that you can be hurt, dropped and knocked out, you’re never quite the same fighter.”

* “I had started off with a dream, an idea of what boxing was and what it would do for me. It was going to be a place where I could prove my toughness. A place that I could escape to and be someone else for a while. For a while, boxing was that place. But it wore me down to the point that I stopped caring. I’d grown sick and tired of it all. I wished that I could feel pride at what I’d achieved. But most of the time, I just felt like a loser.”

* “The fights were getting much more difficult, the damage to my body and my psyche taking longer and longer to repair after each defeat. I was putting myself in more and more danger with each passing fight. I was getting hurt more often and stopped more regularly. Even with the 28-day [suspensions], I didn’t have time to heal. I was staggering from one fight to the next and picking up more injuries along the way.”

* “I was losing my toughness and resilience. When that’s all you’ve ever had, it’s a hard thing to accept. Drink and drugs had always been present in my life. But now they became a regular part of my pre-fight preparation. It helped to shut out the fear and quieted the thoughts and worries that I shouldn’t be doing this anymore.”

* “My body was broken. My hands were constantly sore with blisters and cuts. I had early arthritis in my hip and my teeth were a mess. I looked an absolute state and inside I felt worse. But I couldn’t stop fighting yet. Not before the 100.”

* “I had abused myself time after time and stood in front of better men, taking a beating when I could have been sensible and covered up. At the start, I was rarely dropped or stopped. Now it was becoming a regular part of the game. Most of the guys I was facing were a lot better than me. This was mainly about survival.”

* “Was my brain f***ed from taking too many punches? I knew it was, to be honest. I could feel my speech changing and memory going. I was mentally unwell and shouldn’t have been fighting but the promoters didn’t care. Johnny Greaves was still a good booking. Maybe an even better one now that he might get knocked out.”

* “Nobody gave a f*** about me and whether I lived or died. I didn’t care about that much either. But the thought of being humiliated, knocked out in front of all those people; that was worse than the thought of dying. The idea of being exposed for what I was – a nobody.”

* “I was a miserable bastard in real life. A depressive downbeat mouthy little f***er. Everything I’ve done has been to mask the feeling that I’m worthless. That I have no value. The drinks and the drugs just helped me to forget that for a while. I still frighten myself a lot. My thoughts scare me. Do I really want to be here for the next thirty or forty years? I don’t know. If suicide wasn’t so impactful on people around you, I would have taken that leap. I don’t enjoy life and never have.”

So . . . Any questions?

****

Steve Albert was Showtime’s blow-by-blow commentator for two decades. But his reach extended far beyond boxing.

Albert’s sojourn through professional sports began in high school when he was a ball boy for the New York Knicks. Over the years, he was behind the microphone for more than a dozen teams in eleven leagues including four NBA franchises.

Putting the length of that trajectory in perspective . . . As a ballboy, Steve handed bottles of water and towels to a Knicks back-up forward named Phil Jackson. Later, they worked together as commentators for the New Jersey Nets. Then Steve provided the soundtrack for some of Jackson’s triumphs when he won eleven NBA championships as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers.

It’s also a matter of record that Steve’s oldest brother, Marv, was arguably the greatest play-by-play announcer in NBA history. And brother Al enjoyed a successful career behind the microphone after playing professional hockey.

Now Steve has written a memoir titled A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Broadcast Booth. Those who know him know that Steve doesn’t like to say bad things about people. And he doesn’t here. Nor does he delve into the inner workings of sports media or the sports dream machine. The book is largely a collection of lighthearted personal recollections, although there are times when the gravity of boxing forces reflection.

“Fighters were unlike any other professional athletes I had ever encountered,” Albert writes. “Many were products of incomprehensible backgrounds, fiercely tough neighborhoods, ghettos and, in some cases, jungles. Some got into the sport because they were bullied as children. For others, boxing was a means of survival. In many cases, it was an escape from a way of life that most people couldn’t even fathom.”

At one point, Steve recounts a ringside ritual that he followed when he was behind the microphone for Showtime Boxing: “I would precisely line up my trio of beverages – coffee, water, soda – on the far edge of the table closest to the ring apron. Perhaps the best advice I ever received from Ferdie [broadcast partner Ferdie Pacheco] was early on in my blow-by-blow career – ‘Always cover your coffee at ringside with an index card unless you like your coffee with cream, sugar, and blood.’”

Writing about the prelude to the infamous Holyfield-Tyson “bite fight,” Albert recalls, “I remember thinking that Tyson was going to do something unusual that night. I had this sinking feeling in my gut that he was going to pull something exceedingly out of the ordinary. His grousing about Holyfield’s head butts in the first fight added to my concern. [But] nobody could have foreseen what actually happened. Had I opened that broadcast with, ‘Folks, tonight I predict that Mike Tyson will bite off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear,’ some fellas in white coats might have approached me and said, ‘Uh, Steve, could you come with us.'”

And then there’s my favorite line in the book: “I once asked a fighter if he was happily married,” Albert recounts. “He said, ‘Yes, but my wife’s not.'”

“All I ever wanted was to be a sportscaster,” Albert says in closing. “I didn’t always get it right, but I tried to do my job with honesty and integrity. For forty-five years, calling games was my life. I think it all worked out.”

Thomas Hauser’s email address is thomashauserwriter@gmail.com. His next book – The Most Honest Sport: Two More Years Inside Boxing – will be published this month and is available for preorder at:

https://www.amazon.com/Most-Honest-Sport-Inside-Boxing/dp/1955836329

In 2019, Hauser was selected for boxing’s highest honor – induction into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

Published

3 days ago

May 11, 2025

Arne K. Lang

Argentina's-Fernando-Martinez-Wins-His-Rematch-with-Kazuto-Ioka

In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12^th 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

Published

3 days ago

May 11, 2025

David A. Avila

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

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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