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Boxing Odds and Ends: An Olympic Recap and a Repulsive Scorecard

The boxing competition at the Tokyo Olympics is over and for the fourth straight Olympiad the U.S. team was bereft of a gold medalist. But the U.S. men’s team emerged with three silvers which seemingly bodes well heading into the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. The three U.S. boxers that advanced to the finals were super heavyweight Richard Torrez Jr, lightweight Keyshawn Davis and featherweight Duke Ragan.
Davis and Ragan and middleweight Troy Isley were late additions to the five-member men’s team. When two Olympic qualifying tournaments were cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the International Olympic Committee Boxing Task Force adapted by concocting a formula that left Team USA no choice but to temporarily lift its rule whereby a boxer was disaffiliated once he or she turned pro. Presto, Davis (3-0 as a pro) Ragan (4-0) and Isley (2-0) were back in good standing. (Isley won his first fight in Tokyo, but lost his second. The other USA entrant, Delante “Tiger” Johnson, got as far as the quarterfinals before he was eliminated.)
In Tokyo, the Cubans reasserted their dominance, winning four gold medals and five medals overall. The Cuban gold medalists were heavyweight Julio la Cruz, light heavyweight Arlen Lopez, welterweight Roniel Iglesias, and lightweight Andy Cruz.
The 32-year-old Iglesias, who turned away Delante Johnson on his road to the finals, was competing in his fourth Olympiad. He won the gold in 2012 but came a cropper in Rio when he was knocked out in the second round by the eventual silver medalist, a fighter from Uzbekistan. The 23-year-old Cruz has been a thorn in the side of Keyshawn Davis who was the most heavily-touted member of the U.S. contingent. In Tokyo, Cruz and Davis were meeting for the fourth time and Davis has yet to beat him. As was true in their first encounter in Nicaragua, Keyshawn was on the wrong end of a split decision.
The big story coming out of the 2016 Games was the performance of the team from Uzbekistan in Rio. The Central Asian nation, home to roughly 32 million, captured seven medals: three gold, two silver, and two bronze.
This time around, only one Uzbek entrant captured a medal, but it was the gold and it was in the most prestigious weight class.
The match between Bakhodir Jalolov (pictured in the red) and Richard Torrez Jr was a rematch. They met in 2019 in Ekaterinburg, Russia, and Jalolov scored a brutal knockout, putting Torrez to sleep in the opening round.
Torrez won the first round of the rematch while sending the bout to the scorecards, but Jalolov, the much bigger man and a southpaw, not to mention undefeated (8-0, 8 KOs) at the professional level, is a beast and he pulled away to cop the decision. It was yet a valiant effort by Torrez Jr whose father advanced to the quarterfinals of the 1984 Olympic Trials while a senior in high school.
Hailing from the town of Tulare in America’s breadbasket, California’s San Joaquin Valley, Torrez Jr, 21, is not your conventional boxing personality. A fan of classical music – he has chosen Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” for his motivational ring walk – Torrez was reportedly the valedictorian of his high school graduation class. (In 2019, we wrote that if Torrez were to win gold in Tokyo, he would command the highest signing bonus to turn pro of any boxer in the history of the sport.)
Heading into the tournament, Jalolov had the shortest odds of any boxer in the “future book.” A total of 276 boxers descended on Tokyo and he was the shortest favorite on the board. Interestingly, he would be the only top seed on the men’s side to win a gold medal. By contrast, all five of the women’s weight classes were won by the #1 seed.
The biggest upset was forged by 23-year-old Brazilian middleweight Hebert Sousa. He brought a 35-14 record to Tokyo per BoxRec and was fortunate to reach the finals after winning his first three matches by split decision. In the gold medal round, he was matched against #1 seed Oleksandr Khyzhniak who was expected to follow in the footsteps of countrymen Wladimir Klitschko, Vasiliy Lomachenko, and Oleksandr Usyk and bring home the gold for the Ukraine (Lomachenko did it twice).
Khyzhniak looked as if he was home free after dominating the first two frames. But midway through the third and final round, Sousa snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a left uppercut that knocked the Ukrainian on the seat of his pants. Khyzhniak arose on unsteady legs and the referee stopped the fight.
Gloria Martinez-Rizzo
Eimantas Stanionis was dominating veteran Luis Collazo on Saturday night in the main event of the PBC show on FOX from the Minneapolis Armory when an accidental head butt terminated the contest in round four, resulting in a “no decision.” But all the talk the next day was about the bizarre decision rendered in the co-feature, a 12-round welterweight match between Gabriel Maestre and Mykal Fox.
Many of those tuning in on TV likely turned off the tube before the decision was announced. PBC’s unofficial scorer Marcos Villegos had it 119-109 for Fox, giving Maestre only one round. Why stick around to hear ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. read the scores when the verdict is a foregone conclusion?
Ah, but as Yogi said, it’s never over until it’s over and, after all, this is boxing. All three judges gave the fight Maestre. They had him winning by scores of 114-113, 115-112, and 117-111. The 117-111 tally was submitted by Florida judge Gloria Martinez-Rizzo.
Prominent boxing writer Scott Christ called her scorecard repulsive. Tom Gray, the managing editor of The Ring magazine, called it one of the worst decisions that he had ever seen. “The verdict was so bad,” said Gray, “that it literally requires government intervention” (while acknowledging that there are more pressing concerns for our government during these messy times).
Martinez-Rizzo, a Miami-based Nicaraguan, has been a licensed boxing judge for 14 years but hasn’t been particularly active. One might ask what were her qualifications for the job.
BWAA vice-president Jake Donovan didn’t ask this question for his follow-up story for Boxing Scene but he provided the answer. Donovan noted that Ms. Martinez-Rizzo is married to longtime Florida fight facilitator Ricardo Rizzo. A google search finds Ricardo Rizzo in Panama City in 2015 paying his respects at the memorial service for WBA president Gilberto Mendoza Sr who had passed away at age 75. Mendoza’s son of the same name inherited his father’s post and still runs the organization. The Mendozas were born in Venezuela and the WBA was headquartered there in Caracas before the firm relocated to Panama City.
About Gabriel Maestre, the recipient of the gift decision: He represented Venezuela in the 2012 and 2016 Olympics. Now 34 years old, he was 3-0 as a pro heading into his match with Mykal Fox which was his U.S. debut.
True, Maestre was a two-time Olympian, but a closer look at his amateur record, 75-34 per BoxRec including a 9-8 mark in the semi-pro World Series of Boxing, suggests that he wasn’t going to be all that great as a pro.
So how is it that the WBA had him ranked #4 at welterweight after only three pro fights? Go ask Gilbert Mendoza Jr but be certain to get fumigated after leaving the interview.
P.S. – It’s doubtful that Gloria Martinez-Rizzo will ever judge another fight and that has nothing to do with her actions in Minneapolis. It has been discovered that she has a history of racist tweets including calling former first lady Michelle Obama a “monkey face.” Her twitter page has since been deleted.
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Avila Perspective, Chap. 317: Callum Walsh, Dana White and More

As Callum Walsh stood on the observation deck at the top of the Empire State Building with fists clenched, it harked back to actor Jimmy Cagney, an actor of Irish descent, yelling “Top of the world, ma,” in the 1949 motion picture White Heat.
The Irish-born Walsh brings that kind of attitude.
Once again Walsh (12-0, 10 KOs) returns to New York City and this time faces Scottish warrior Dean Sutherland (19-1, 7 KOs) in a super welterweight match set for 10 rounds on Sunday, March 16, at Madison Garden Theater.
UFC Fight Pass will stream the 360 Promotions event.
Flanked by master trainer Freddie Roach and managed by Dana White it brings questions as to the direction that Walsh will be steered. It was just revealed that White will head a new boxing promotion outfit with big plans to make a more UFC type of organization.
Is Walsh part of the plans?
It’s a lot to digest as the hot prospect from Cork, Ireland proceeds toward world championship dreams. Can he cleanse his mind of this major distraction?
Walsh and Sutherland are both southpaws who are meeting at the crossroads in the heart of New York City. At this point of their careers a loss can mean rebooting and taking a few steps backward. The winner moves on to the next crucial step.
Sutherland, 26, hails from Aberdeen and has never fought outside of his native Scotland. It’s a lot to ask of someone whose country’s population of 5 million is dwarfed by New York City’s 8.2 million inhabitants all packed together.
Ireland’s population is also 5 million. So basically, both Walsh and Sutherland are on even terms when they enter the prize ring on Sunday.
Who knows what kind of competition Sutherland faced in Scotland. He beat two undefeated fighters and also conquered two foes who each had more than 100 losses on their resumes.
Meanwhile, Walsh has faced only one undefeated fighter but handled veterans like Benjamin Whitaker, Ismael Villareal and Carlos Ortiz Cervantes. But you never know until they meet face to face. Anything can happen in a prize ring.
Walsh has a three-fight knockout streak. Sutherland has slept two out of his last three foes. They will be joined by several Irish fighters on the card plus Cletus “The Hebrew Hammer” Seldin.
Dana, Turk and TKO
The announcement earlier in the week that Turki Alalshikh together with TKO Group Holdings that include Dana White and Nick Khan formed a new boxing promotion company.
White, who does not own UFC but guides the MMA ship, works for Endeavor, the parent company of UFC and WWE. Their events are all shown on ESPN, the powerful sports network (albeit WWE’s flagship weekly show “Raw” recently moved to Netflix). It seems Endeavor has decided to allow White to guide its boxing program too.
Where does that leave Top Rank?
It seems the partnership plans to rid boxing of the many sanctioning organizations and have only one champion per division. The champion will be given a Ring Magazine belt. Recently, Turki Alalshikh purchased The Ring magazine from Golden Boy Promotions. This seems to have been the plan all along.
Is this good for boxing?
Mark Shapiro, the president of TKO Group Holdings, said:
“This is a strategic opportunity to re-imagine the sport of boxing globally. TKO has the deep expertise, promotional prowess, and longstanding relationships. HE Turki Alalshikh and Sela share our passion and vision for evolving the current model. Together, we can bring the sweet science back to its rightful place in the forefront of the global sports ecosystem.”
DAZN all day
Three boxing cards take place on Saturday beginning with WBA featherweight titlist Nick Ball (21-0-1) the human cannonball, defending against former champion TJ Doheny from Liverpool, England. The first bout begins around 9:30 a.m. (Pacific Coast Time). Ball likes to charge forward and punch. Doheny is no slouch and has experience.
Later, Matchroom Boxing presents a show from Florida that features Edgar Berlanga (22-1) fresh off a solid contest against Canelo Alvarez. He fights undefeated Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1) in a super middleweight match. Also, Ammo Williams (17-1) returns to face dangerous Patrice Volny (19-1) in a middleweight clash. The card starts at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific Coast Time.
Saturday evening MarvNation presents Amado Vargas (11-0) meeting Eduardo Hernandez (8-2) in a super lightweight contest at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, California. Start time is set for 8 p.m. (Pacific Coast Time). The son of the great Fernando Vargas remains undefeated.
Fights to Watch
Sat. DAZN 11:30 a.m. Nick Ball (21-0-1) vs TJ Doheny (26-5).
Sat. DAZN 3:30 p.m. Edgar Berlanga (22-1) vs Jonathan Gonzalez-Ortiz (20-0-1) ; Ammo Williams (17-1) vs Patrice Volny (19-1).
Sat. DAZN 8 p.m. Amado Vargas (11-0) vs Eduardo Hernandez (8-2).
Sun. UFC Fight Pass 3 p.m. Callum Walsh (12-0) vs Dean Sutherland (19-1).
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A Fresh Face on the Boxing Scene, Bryce Mills Faces His Toughest Test on Friday

“He wants to test himself and find out just how good he really is,” said International Boxing Hall of Fame promoter Russell Peltz regarding super lightweight Bryce Mills. Peltz, who has dealt with a wide range of fighters throughout his lifetime in boxing, recognized the fire that burned inside Mills at a local show in Philadelphia in early 2022. At the time Mills had less than ten professional fights under his belt.
Mills hails from Liverpool in upstate New York and trains in nearby Syracuse. Currently 17-1 (6 KOs), he’s undefeated in his last 11 since losing a split decision to a Puerto Rican fighter from the Bronx who had fought much stiffer competition.
The fight in question that caught Peltz’s eye was arranged by the well-known and respected matchmaker Nick Tiberi who paired Mills in an intriguing fight against Daiyaan Butt, a tough and skilled fighter from the Philadelphia area. They fought at LIVE Casino in South Philadelphia on Feb. 24, 2022.
Although the crowd on hand that night favored Butt, Mills, although then only 20 years old, wasn’t intimidated and was the clear-cut winner at the end of their exciting, back-and-forth battle. This showed Peltz that Mills was serious about seeing just how far his ability could take him.
That’s why Peltz decided to join forces with Mills. Despite being semi-retired, Peltz is still active enough to help guide fighters through the ever-changing wild west landscape that is boxing. Since their union after Mill’s victory over Butt, Mills has been on a nine-fight winning streak heading into what Peltz believes is the toughest test of his career this Friday against Alex Martin 18-6 (6 KOs) of Chicago.
“I didn’t want him to take this fight, it’s a dangerous fight for him. Martin is a southpaw and is tricky, he’s a veteran and is experienced. His father (Mills’s father) called me and said that Bryce wanted the fight, to his credit,” says Peltz. One look at Martin’s resume and it confirms what Peltz stated. All six of Martin’s losses came against fighters with outstanding records including a former world title challenger. Martin also holds some quality wins over undefeated prospects that were at similar points in their careers to where Mills currently is in his development.
Bryce Mills looks like a fighter (he’s always in shape), acts like a fighter (testing his craft against all comers), walks the walk of a fighter, and fights with a fan-friendly pedal-to-the-metal style. That is a winning combination that could be the breath of fresh air the boxing world could surely use and on Friday night at the Wind Creek Events Center in Bethlehem, PA, live on DAZN, Mills is going to have the opportunity to put the boxing world on notice.
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DAZN will televise the Mills-Martin fight along with a main event that features undefeated middleweight Euri Cedeno (10-0-1, 9 KO’s) against Ulices Rivera (11-1, 7 KO’s). Knockout artist Joseph Adorno (20-4-1, 17 KOs) and undefeated Reading, PA super featherweight Julian Gonzalez (15-0-1, 11 KOs) appear in separate bouts on the undercard. Tickets for the Marshall Kauffman’s Kings Promotion show are still available through Ticketmaster. Lobby doors open at 5:00 pm. First bell is at 7:00.
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High Drama in Japan as ‘Amazing Boy’ Kenshiro Teraji Overcomes Seigo Yuri Akui

Overshadowed by countrymen Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani, Kenshiro Teraji embossed his Hall of Fame credentials in Tokyo tonight with a dramatic 12th-round stoppage of Seigo Yuri Akui. At stake were two pieces of the world flyweight title. A two-time world title-holder a division below (108), Teraji (25-1, 16 KOs) was appearing in his 16th world title fight.
This Japan vs. Japan matchup will go down in Japanese boxing lore as one of the best title fights ever on Japanese soil. Through the 11 completed rounds, Akui was up 105-104 on two of the cards with Teraji up 106-103 on the third. However, judging by his appearance, Akui was more damaged. The stoppage by Japanese referee Katsuhiko Nakamura, which came at the 1:31 mark of the final round with Akui still standing, struck some as premature but the gallant Akui was well-beaten.
A second-generation prizefighter, Kenshiro Teraji, 33, came bearing the WBC 112-pound belt which he acquired this past October with an 11th round TKO of Nicaraguan veteran Cristofer Rosales. The 29-year-old Akui (21-3-1) was making the second defense of the WBA strap he won with a wide decision over previously undefeated Artem Dalakian.
Although Teraji keeps on rolling – this was his seventh straight win which began with a third-round blast-out of Masamichi Yabuki, avenging his lone defeat – things aren’t getting any easier for the so-called “Amazing Boy.” In his last three fights, which include a hard-earned majority decision over Carlos Canizales, he answered the bell for 35 rounds.
By and large, fighters in his weight class don’t age well. While Teraji is starting to slip, he has no intention of retiring any time soon. His goal, he says is to unify the title and eventually move up a notch to pursue a world title in a third weight class. The other pieces of the 112-pound title are currently the property of Mexico’s Angel Ayala who defends his IBF diadem against Yabuki later this month and LA’s Anthony Olascuaga who was in action on tonight’s undercard.
Other Bouts of Note
Olascuaga, a stablemate of Junto Nakatani, trained by 2024 TSS Trainer of the Year Rudy Hernandez, advanced to 9-1 (6) with a hard-earned unanimous decision over Hiroto Kyoguchi. The judges had it 118-110 and 117-111 (scores condemned as too wide) with the third judge having it 6-6 in rounds but scoring it 114-113 in acknowledgement of the knockdown credited to Olascuaga in round 11, the result of a short left that produced a delayed reaction.
Olascuaga was making the second defense of his WBO belt in his fifth straight trip to Japan. In his lone defeat, he was thrust against the formidable Teraji as a late sub, acquitting himself well in defeat (L TKO 9) despite having only five pro fights under his belt and having only 10 days to prepare. Kyoguchi (19-3) had previously held titles in the sport’s two smallest weight classes.
In a big upset, Puerto Rico’s Rene Santiago, thought to be well past his prime at age 32, wrested the WBO light flyweight title with a unanimous decision over Shokichi Iwata who was making the first defense of the title he won with a third-round stoppage of Spain’s previously undefeated Jairo Noriega. Tokyo’s Iwata was a consensus 9/1 favorite.
Santiago, who advanced to 14-4 (9), won by scores of 118-110, 117-111, and 116-112. It was the second loss for Iwata who had knocked out 11 of his first 15 opponents.
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