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Murphy’s Law Has Redounded into a Bountiful Day of Boxing in Mid-October

Is Boxing Governed by Murphy’s Law?
Organizers of boxing events need a thick skin because the sport is governed by Murphy’s Law: anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
One of the harshest examples harpooned BOXXER founder Ben Shalom, the new kid on the block of big time boxing promoters. After months of preparation, Shalom’s all-female extravaganza at London’s O2 Arena on Sept. 10 was shipwrecked by the death of Queen Elizabeth. The plug was pulled hours before the scheduled weigh-in on the day preceding the event.
Shalom, in his words, was financially devastated, but to his credit he patched things up while keeping everyone on board. The show, topped by two unified title fights – a middleweight match between Claressa Shields and Savannah Marshall and a junior lightweight match between Mikaela Mayer and Alycia Baumgardner – was rescheduled for Oct. 15.
Had the show gone off as scheduled on Sept. 10, the event would have pretty much had the spotlight all to itself. There were no other prominent boxers in action on that day. But that won’t be the case on Oct. 15 which is shaping up as one of the busiest days of the year. That is bound to hurt receipts even though Shields vs. Marshall et. al. won’t have a competing show going head-to-head and tickets in every bracket save the least expensive have purportedly been gobbled up.
Oct. 15 is a bonanza for U.S. boxing fans who subscribe to ESPN+ as they will be treated to a day-night doubleheader assuming they don’t eschew the nightcap for an arguably more interesting offering on Showtime.
The ladies get to go first. The rematch between Devin Haney and George Kambosos Jr will complete the network’s double bill. It will be early afternoon on Sunday in Melbourne when Haney and Kambosos touch gloves, but that translates into primetime on Saturday in the U.S. (According to press releases, the rematch will air on both the main ESPN platform and on “+.”)
The first meeting between Haney and Kambosos at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium attracted 41,129, roughly half of whom came from outside the state of Victoria. The bout, which went the full 12 rounds, was a lackluster affair. Consistent with the odds, the local fighter, Kambosos, was outclassed.
This wasn’t the sort of fight that begged for a rematch. Hardly. But Team Kambosos had the foresight to build a rematch clause into the fight contract, stipulating that the do-over had to take place in Australia and, so, come Oct. 15, here we go again. But while Melbourne remains the host city, the rematch will take place in a far more intimate setting, the Rod Laver Pavilion, capacity 14,820.
The crowd won’t be as large but the pre-fight hype might be louder. “Kambosos-Haney I was the Devin Haney show. George is going to have to fight a completely different fight to get that victory, and he knows it. That alone assures an action-packed rematch,” says Kambosos’ promoter Lou DiBella.
Okay, whatever.
The competing attraction on Showtime marks the return of knockout artist Deontay Wilder who opposes longtime sparring partner Robert Helenius at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. Super middleweights Caleb Plant and Anthony Dirrell collide in the chief supporting bout.
Wilder has been in Las Vegas since August preparing at the UFC Apex which is part of the mammoth UFC complex and has become the go-to gym in Las Vegas for several prominent boxers. (Michael Hunter, who has a date with Hughie Fury in Birmingham, England, on Oct. 29 has also been training here.)
Wilder held a meet-and-greet for members of the media today (Thursday, Sept. 22) which included an intense workout while the attendees – primarily folks with smart phones mounted on tripods, the new world order of journalism – soaked in the scene while standing on the ring apron.
What struck this reporter as Wilder was raining punches on an invisible opponent was the pop in his lightning-quick left jab. That’s been the major criticism of Deontay, an ineffective jab that he has been using primarily as a range-finder for his explosive right hand. Of course, it’s one thing to show a well-rounded arsenal in the gym and quite another to do it in an actual fight, but if Wilder can become less dependent on his money punch, watch out.
In the meet-and-greet, Wilder reaffirmed once again his declaration that Tyson Fury cheated in the second of their three meetings. (Wilder alleges that Fury had a foreign substance in his gloves, “something the size and shape of an egg-weight.”) “I will feel that way to my grave,” he told this correspondent.
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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.
Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.
Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.
The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.
In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.
Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.
Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.
From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.
After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.
“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”
Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.
Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”
Other Bouts
Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.
A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.
The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.
San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.
Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.
Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.
With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.
Co-Feature
Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.
Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.
Other Bouts of Note
New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.
In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.
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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.
It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.
Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.
In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.
The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.
As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.
Other Bouts of Note
In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.
Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.
A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.
It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.
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