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Has the U.S. Lost its Presence in Boxing? Part Two of Our Latest Survey

More than 50 boxing notables shared their thoughts in our latest TSS survey. As is our custom, we listed the respondents alphabetically. Those with last names beginning with the letters “A” through “L” were included in PART ONE. Here’s PART TWO. We welcome your feedback.
PAUL MAGNO-writer and author: The decline of boxing in the U.S. has opened the door for expansion across the globe. So, really, it’s kind of like a good for you, not-so-great for us scenario. At the very least, though, it establishes the fact that boxing is still a sport that can reach the mainstream if presented correctly. American fight fans just have to roll with the punches and accept that they’re no longer the center of the fistic universe. They’ll have to get used to watching fights at odd hours at “away” venues. The American fight game can learn from all of this and rebuild based on those lessons—if it decides one day to smarten up.
ADEYINKA MAKINDE–barrister, writer and contributor to the Cambridge Companion to Boxing: The decline in fighters from Western developed countries after the Second World War saw a corresponding rise from poorer parts of the globe. The rise of the Griffiths and the Paret’s confirmed that trend. Also, if the U.S. does not hold any of the Heavyweight titles, that’s indicative that it is “no longer a major player in professional boxing.” Also reflecting this “re-adjustment” is the box office success of non-American boxers in their homelands. Anthony Joshua can fill stadiums in Britain and command huge guarantees from Saudi sponsors. However, in terms of financial muscle, the situation is less clear as DAZN is a multinational brand with huge American input. ESPN and PBS are still in there. There are fewer American boxing superstars, but the US continues to be a major player as a centre for raising monies as well as locations such as Las Vegas and NYC.
LAYLA McCARTER-WIBF welterweight champion and former world title-holder in multiple divisions: Perhaps the U.S. has lost its presence as the major player in pro boxing, but I believe this trend to be temporary. Promoters and networks come and go. Great ones like King and Arum are aging out of the sport. The UK is having its run now, but I’m confident that new promoters will emerge in the U.S. and once again be successful.
KELSEY McCARSON-TSS writer: I think the U.S. will remain the fulcrum of professional boxing for the foreseeable future but that the rise in global audiences that are able to digitally cross borders will reveal more competition than ever for U.S.-based promotional companies. It would seem like that’s a good thing. One of my favorite things about boxing over the last few years is Eddie Hearn’s rise to global prominence. In the old days, Bob Arum and Oscar De La Hoya had a virtual monopoly through their partnerships with HBO. Now, there are many more ways fighters can get paid to fight on TV and streaming platforms.
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“…how can we profess to be a major player when the sport is on life support here in the United States with no vaccine to save it?” Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum
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SCOOP MALINOWSKI-writer, author, creator of BIOFILE: America no longer produces the abundance of great champions it once did. The best fighters are developed in other nations, particularly Eastern Europe. American tennis is in a similar situation.
JASON MARCHETTI-boxing writer: I disagree. The US is still a major player in professional boxing, although there continues to be inconsistencies of what promoters and fighters say versus what they agree to. The sanctioning bodies and promoters control which fights get made instead of the fans, and its killing the sport in the US.
LARRY MERCHANT-legendary HBO commentator; 2009 IBHOF inductee: Trick question. Boxing hasn’t been a mainstream sport in the U.S. for decades, yet four networks show boxing regularly and we have more consequential fighters and fights in the lightweight, welterweight and middleweight divisions by far than any other country. And even though we may have to wait for another comeback by George Foreman to make a heavyweight impact on casual fans, most heavyweight championship fights recently have been staged, yes, in the U.S. That said, Great Britain and probably Mexico reign as the pound-for-pound champions for their “presence”—or passion— and that does count for a lot.
ROBERT MLADINICH–Former fighter, retired NYC Detective, author, writer, and actor. It’s sad but the United States has taken a back seat to Europe in attracting fans to live shows. Wilder vs. Fury 2 could have brought nearly 100,000 fans to an arena in England. Years ago that fight would have broken attendance records here.
DIEGO MORILLA-boxing writer; Copy Editor of The Ring en Español : Sometimes certain countries gain more ground at certain times, depending on the level of activity of their fighters. Japan is now enjoying huge success. The quality of their fighters in those lower divisions is off the charts. That’s just an example of one country “exploding” in a particular region. Since the most visible weight class is the heavyweights, fans tend to assess the value of boxing in general depending on the quality displayed in that division. The U.K now rules the heavyweights with as many as five in the top 10. It used to be Eastern Europe and the Klitschko’s. Now it’s England. This surge may be responsible for this notion that the US is losing ground in boxing, but the level of quality in the U.S. is so deep that it’s only a matter of time before it bounces back to the top and claims at least half of the pound-for-pound names, as well as a similar number of names in the list of best paid and most relevant athletes in the world.
ERNESTO MORALES (aka GENO FEBUS)-writer, former fighter: For decades the Western Hemisphere fighters & trainers, managers, promoters, and fans were spoiled believing they had a never-ending superiority. When a U.S. fighter lost abroad it was considered a fluke/upset. As time went, non-U.S. fighters trained harder, their hunger grew, and became CONFIDENT that they were just as good if not better, with the main reason for their success being their extensive and superior amateur programs. Heavyweight is the most influential division worldwide, and it’s OWNED by Europe.
LUIS PABON- elite referee: Undoubtedly the Europeans have been gaining ground, especially the larger weights. Uzbekistan, Russia, Ukraine, they are very good, but even in the USA the 130, 135, 147, 160 are the best divisions, and the Mexican-Americans, who are USA, they are also very good. I think it is global. Europe, Japan, Mexico, they are very good but even together they do not beat the USA.
JOE PASQUALE-professional judge: Team sports are supported & easier. And since WW2 there are fewer inner city gyms. Less media attention for amateur boxing world & Olympic events has resulted in fewer participants and professional contenders from the USA. Boxing has become more global like the world economy. Talent is emerging from countries where there is more national and government support for boxing. China has massive amateur boxing programs with thousands of boxers supported and educated. The USA barely does that for their amateur team sports and nothing for boxing except at a minimum on the Olympic level.
DENNIS RAPPAPORT: former co-manager of Gerry Cooney, among others; elite promoter: Historically the best fighters were from the U.S. In recent years the Eastern Europeans, Germany and England have made major strides. England has produced some excellent fighters and the sport’s popularity has been overwhelming. The Russians, Ukrainians and former members of the USSR are very hungry and determined and have impressive amateur pedigrees. The Latins have always been a major force and now with the emergence of The Philippines, pose even more competition. Bottom Line is the momentum, at least for now, has shifted away from US dominance.
JOHN RASPANTI-lead writer/editor for MaxBoxing; author: I don’t agree. Las Vegas, New York and Los Angeles are major players in promoting and staging the most important fights. Tyson Fury and Deontay Wilder fought last month in Vegas. Fight three will probably be back in Sin City. Vasyl Lomachencko and Teofimo will likely fight in New York in a few months. Major fights are scheduled in Southern California. The United States is a big time player in the sweet science and will continue to be in the foreseeable future.
CLIFF ROLD-writer and Managing Editor of BOXING SCENE: How could it have lost its presence? By and large, the US is still the richest market in the sport. This is where the greatest fortunes are possible. As long as this is true, it will be a premier part of the game.
FRED ROMANO-boxing historian, author and former HBO Boxing consultant: There certainly is a broader representation of quality fighters from places outside the United States compared with a couple of decades ago. Boxing is also more global in terms of financial control and preferred venues as well. Nevertheless, the US boxing presence is still stout, and the US will remain a major player in the sport in all respects.
DANA ROSENBLATT-former World Middleweight Champion; inspirational speaker and commentator: The U.S. is close to losing its lead in worldwide boxing due to boxing not being as widely present in the Boys Clubs. The loss of weekly fights on the major networks is also another reason why we have slipped in terms of our dominance of the sport.
TED SARES-TSS writer: The U.S. is behind at the top and especially so in the heavyweight division. It never was much of a force at the bottom divisions where Asians and Latinos thrive. It’s in the middle that the U.S. will maintain a competitive, if not premier, spot with other nations. Fighters like Crawford, Tank, Spence, Thurman, Porter, Danny Garcia, Mikey Garcia, Plant, Andrade, the Charlos, Hurd, Williams, Harrison, Lubin, Prograis, Hooker, Zepeda, Diaz, JR., Farmer, and Colbert ensure this.
RICHARD SCHWARTZ-elite cut-man and RING 10 board member: The rest of the world is catching up to the U.S. just like in basketball. We still produce some of the world’s best like Mayweather, Crawford, Spence, the Garcia’s, Wilder, etc. Boxing has always been populated by those from the lowest socio-economic group and will continue to be, but many good athletes are going into other athletic endeavors. Many world champs and great fighters are now coming out of European countries. When I was growing up, I could only think of Ingemar Johansson. New York is no longer the mecca of boxing; that title has been taken over by Las Vegas, but the sport will continue to survive the world over.
ICEMAN JOHN SCULLY-former world title challenger; you name it in boxing, he’s done it!: I wouldn’t say that the USA has lost its presence entirely as the major player in the game but we have been joined by the most serious competition we have ever had. The U.K. may actually be number one right now but that doesn’t mean the U.S. has been wiped off the boxing map. Many countries who were not able to turn out professionals back in the 80’s like Cuba and Russia are now seeing some of their greatest amateurs turning pro and they are simply achieving what many great Americans have done in the past. We are not off the map; we have just been joined by many others, that’s all.
MIKE SILVER- author, writer, historian: Until the USA has an undisputed world heavyweight champion, it will appear to have lost dominance over the sport. Although certainly not as dominant a major player as in previous decades, the USA still holds 15 of the 37 title belts from featherweight to heavyweight. That’s 40 percent, which isn’t bad. I don’t include the six weight classes from light flyweight to bantamweight because there just aren’t enough small Americans competing in those divisions, nor is there much interest in them.
ALAN SWYER– film producer, creator “El Boxeo”: Though boxing has gotten a recent surge thanks to the heavyweight division — first Ruiz’s upset win, then Fury mauling Wilder — the powers that be have accepted its status as a niche sport. Bud Crawford may well be the best fighter in the world, but outside of fight fans, who knows about him? Or Lomachenko? How many newspapers even cover boxing regularly? Far too much changed when the Olympics — the spawning ground for Ali, Leonard, Oscar, and others — not merely de-emphasized it, but worse turned it into fencing. As I showed in my documentary “El Boxeo,” the popularity of the sport today owes largely to Latinos, followed by Brits and Eastern Europeans. Other than Mayweather (plus Andy Ruiz during his fifteen minutes of fame), what boxer has captured the imagination of the casual American sports fan of late?
RICHARD TORSNEY-former fighter; boxing official: (1) Boxing has always been practiced by the downtrodden. Young people in the US have more opportunities than in the past. Education is broadly available. US athletes can choose sports such as basketball, football, soccer, baseball, etc., that affords them reduced or even free college tuition. Boxing does not. Thus, we have fewer practitioners. (2) In days gone by the US media treated boxing as an important sport. It doesn’t any longer. Without publicity, interest is lost, fans don’t fill arenas and young folks don’t get to see their names and photos in the paper. Without media coverage it’s like a tree falling in the woods…, it makes no noise.
BOB TRIEGER-boxing publicist: I agree that America has lost some of its presence, but not all of it. Every trend in boxing has been in cycle and I’m confident that Americans will once again rule. NYC and LV remain two of the top markets in the world. It will be interesting to watch how America responds to the Coronavirus pandemic. America still produces many of the best boxers and that will not change,
GARY “DIGITAL” WILLIAMS-the voice of Boxing in the Beltway: I think it depends on the weight class. We are starting to lose credibility in the heavyweight division definitely. However, from 140-160, I think the US is in good shape.
PETER WOOD-author, former fighter, NY Boxing Hall of Fame inductee: I will answer this question with another question: If the US has lost its presence as a major player in professional boxing, who has replaced us?…I rest my case.
Observations:
The responses were pretty much evenly divided between “agree” and “disagree.”
Surprisingly (at least to me), many felt that as long as the U.S. does not rule the heavyweight division, it does not rule boxing.
I thought Brian “The Bizz” Bizzack summed up the downward trend of U.S. Boxing very well, but Larry Merchant made the case for the U.S. and many agree with his analysis if not his conclusion.
Iceman John Scully and many others opined that other countries have simply caught up with the U.S–and that’s a difficult one to debate.
Clearly, media coverage has been especially poor. Rich Torsney nailed it when he says, “Without media coverage it’s like a tree falling in the woods…, it makes no noise.”
Once again, my heartfelt thanks to everyone that contributed, particularly in these difficult times.
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“Breadman” Edwards: An Unlikely Boxing Coach with a Panoramic View of the Sport

Stephen “Breadman” Edwards’ first fighter won a world title. That may be some sort of record.
It’s true. Edwards had never trained a fighter, amateur or pro, before taking on professional novice Julian “J Rock” Williams. On May 11, 2019, Williams wrested the IBF 154-pound world title from Jarrett Hurd. The bout, a lusty skirmish, was in Fairfax, Virginia, near Hurd’s hometown in Maryland, and the previously undefeated Hurd had the crowd in his corner.
In boxing, Stephen Edwards wears two hats. He has a growing reputation as a boxing coach, a hat he will wear on Saturday, May 31, at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas when the two fighters that he currently trains, super middleweight Caleb Plant and middleweight Kyrone Davis, display their wares on a show that will air on Amazon Prime Video. Plant, who needs no introduction, figures to have little trouble with his foe in a match conceived as an appetizer to a showdown with Jermall Charlo. Davis, coming off his career-best win, an upset of previously undefeated Elijah Garcia, is in tough against fast-rising Cuban prospect Yoenli Hernandez, a former world amateur champion.
Edwards’ other hat is that of a journalist. His byline appears at “Boxing Scene” in a column where he answers questions from readers.
It’s an eclectic bag of questions that Breadman addresses, ranging from his thoughts on an upcoming fight to his thoughts on one of the legendary prizefighters of olden days. Boxing fans, more so than fans of any other sport, enjoy hashing over fantasy fights between great fighters of different eras. Breadman is very good at this, which isn’t to suggest that his opinions are gospel, merely that he always has something provocative to add to the discourse. Like all good historians, he recognizes that the best history is revisionist history.
“Fighters are constantly mislabled,” he says. “Everyone talks about Joe Louis’s right hand. But if you study him you see that his left hook is every bit as good as his right hand and it’s more sneaky in terms of shock value when it lands.”
Stephen “Breadman” Edwards was born and raised in Philadelphia. His father died when he was three. His maternal grandfather, a Korean War veteran, filled the void. The man was a big boxing fan and the two would watch the fights together on the family television.
Edwards’ nickname dates to his early teen years when he was one of the best basketball players in his neighborhood. The derivation is the 1975 movie “Cornbread, Earl and Me,” starring Laurence Fishburne in his big screen debut. Future NBA All-Star Jamaal Wilkes, fresh out of UCLA, plays Cornbread, a standout high school basketball player who is mistakenly murdered by the police.
Coming out of high school, Breadman had to choose between an academic scholarship at Temple or an athletic scholarship at nearby Lincoln University. He chose the former, intending to major in criminal justice, but didn’t stay in college long. What followed were a succession of jobs including a stint as a city bus driver. To stay fit, he took to working out at the James Shuler Memorial Gym where he sparred with some of the regulars, but he never boxed competitively.
Over the years, Philadelphia has harbored some great boxing coaches. Among those of recent vintage, the names George Benton, Bouie Fisher, Nazeem Richardson, and Bozy Ennis come quickly to mind. Breadman names Richardson and West Coast trainer Virgil Hunter as the men that have influenced him the most.
We are all a product of our times, so it’s no surprise that the best decade of boxing, in Breadman’s estimation, was the 1980s. This was the era of the “Four Kings” with Sugar Ray Leonard arguably standing tallest.
Breadman was a big fan of Leonard and of Leonard’s three-time rival Roberto Duran. “I once purchased a DVD that had all of Roberto Duran’s title defenses on it,” says Edwards. “This was a back before the days of YouTube.”
But Edwards’ interest in the sport goes back much deeper than the 1980s. He recently weighed in on the “Pittsburgh Windmill” Harry Greb whose legend has grown in recent years to the point that some have come to place him above Sugar Ray Robinson on the list of the greatest of all time.
“Greb was a great fighter with a terrific resume, of that there is no doubt,” says Breadman, “but there is no video of him and no one alive ever saw him fight, so where does this train of thought come from?”
Edwards notes that in Harry Greb’s heyday, he wasn’t talked about in the papers as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the sport. The boxing writers were partial to Benny Leonard who drew comparisons to the venerated Joe Gans.
Among active fighters, Breadman reserves his highest praise for Terence Crawford. “Body punching is a lost art,” he once wrote. “[Crawford] is a great body puncher who starts his knockouts with body punches, but those punches are so subtle they are not fully appreciated.”
If the opening line holds up, Crawford will enter the ring as the underdog when he opposes Canelo Alvarez in September. Crawford, who will enter the ring a few weeks shy of his 38th birthday, is actually the older fighter, older than Canelo by almost three full years (it doesn’t seem that way since the Mexican redhead has been in the public eye so much longer), and will theoretically be rusty as 13 months will have elapsed since his most recent fight.
Breadman discounts those variables. “Terence is older,” he says, “but has less wear and tear and never looks rusty after a long layoff.” That Crawford will win he has no doubt, an opinion he tweaked after Canelo’s performance against William Scull: “Canelo’s legs are not the same. Bud may even stop him now.”
Edwards has been with Caleb Plant for Plant’s last three fights. Their first collaboration produced a Knockout of the Year candidate. With one ferocious left hook, Plant sent Anthony Dirrell to dreamland. What followed were a 12-round setback to David Benavidez and a ninth-round stoppage of Trevor McCumby.
Breadman keeps a hectic schedule. From Monday through Friday, he’s at the DLX Gym in Las Vegas coaching Caleb Plant and Kyrone Davis. On weekends, he’s back in Philadelphia, checking in on his investment properties and, of greater importance, watching his kids play sports. His 14-year-old daughter and 12-year-old son are standout all-around athletes.
On those long flights, he has plenty of time to turn on his laptop and stream old fights or perhaps work on his next article. That’s assuming he can stay awake.
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Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More

Arne’s Almanac: The Good, the Bad, and the (Mostly) Ugly; a Weekend Boxing Recap and More
It’s old news now, but on back-to-back nights on the first weekend of May, there were three fights that finished in the top six snoozefests ever as measured by punch activity. That’s according to CompuBox which has been around for 40 years.
In Times Square, the boxing match between Devin Haney and Jose Carlos Ramirez had the fifth-fewest number of punches thrown, but the main event, Ryan Garcia vs. Rolly Romero, was even more of a snoozefest, landing in third place on this ignoble list.
Those standings would be revised the next night – knocked down a peg when Canelo Alvarez and William Scull combined to throw a historically low 445 punches in their match in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 152 by the victorious Canelo who at least pressed the action, unlike Scull (pictured) whose effort reminded this reporter of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” – no, not the movie starring Paul Newman, just the title.
CompuBox numbers, it says here, are best understood as approximations, but no amount of rejiggering can alter the fact that these three fights were stinkers. Making matters worse, these were pay-per-views. If one had bundled the two events, rather than buying each separately, one would have been out $90 bucks.
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Thankfully, the Sunday card on ESPN from Las Vegas was redemptive. It was just what the sport needed at this moment – entertaining fights to expunge some of the bad odor. In the main go, Naoya Inoue showed why he trails only Shohei Ohtani as the most revered athlete in Japan.
Throughout history, the baby-faced assassin has been a boxing promoter’s dream. It’s no coincidence that down through the ages the most common nickname for a fighter – and by an overwhelming margin — is “Kid.”
And that partly explains Naoya Inoue’s charisma. The guy is 32 years old, but here in America he could pass for 17.
Joey Archer
Joey Archer, who passed away last week at age 87 in Rensselaer, New York, was one of the last links to an era of boxing identified with the nationally televised Friday Night Fights at Madison Square Garden.

Joey Archer
Archer made his debut as an MSG headliner on Feb. 4, 1961, and had 12 more fights at the iconic mid-Manhattan sock palace over the next six years. The final two were world title fights with defending middleweight champion Emile Griffith.
Archer etched his name in the history books in November of 1965 in Pittsburgh where he won a comfortable 10-round decision over Sugar Ray Robinson, sending the greatest fighter of all time into retirement. (At age 45, Robinson was then far past his peak.)
Born and raised in the Bronx, Joey Archer was a cutie; a clever counter-puncher recognized for his defense and ultimately for his granite chin. His style was embedded in his DNA and reinforced by his mentors.
Early in his career, Archer was domiciled in Houston where he was handled by veteran trainer Bill Gore who was then working with world lightweight champion Joe Brown. Gore would ride into the Hall of Fame on the coattails of his most famous fighter, “Will-o’-the Wisp” Willie Pep. If Joey Archer had any thoughts of becoming a banger, Bill Gore would have disabused him of that notion.
In all honesty, Archer’s style would have been box office poison if he had been black. It helped immensely that he was a native New Yorker of Irish stock, albeit the Irish angle didn’t have as much pull as it had several decades earlier. But that observation may not be fair to Archer who was bypassed twice for world title fights after upsetting Hurricane Carter and Dick Tiger.
When he finally caught up with Emile Griffith, the former hat maker wasn’t quite the fighter he had been a few years earlier but Griffith, a two-time Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and the BWAA and a future first ballot Hall of Famer, was still a hard nut to crack.
Archer went 30 rounds with Griffith, losing two relatively tight decisions and then, although not quite 30 years old, called it quits. He finished 45-4 with 8 KOs and was reportedly never knocked down, yet alone stopped, while answering the bell for 365 rounds. In retirement, he ran two popular taverns with his older brother Jimmy Archer, a former boxer who was Joey’s trainer and manager late in Joey’s career.
May he rest in peace.
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Bombs Away in Las Vegas where Inoue and Espinoza Scored Smashing Triumphs

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