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Munguia Nips Derevyanchenko in a Fierce Battle at Ontario
ONTARIO, Calif.-In perhaps the most explosive fight so far this year Mexico’s Jaime Munguia needed a knockdown to overcome the hard charging Sergiy Derevyanchenko in the last round to win a close unanimous decision and the WBC Silver super middleweight title on Saturday.
“He was very, very hurt and we deserved to win the fight,” said Munguia.
No one was disappointed in the fight.
Tijuana’s Munguia (42-0, 33 KOs) knew stepping into the prize ring that Ukraine’s Derevyanchenko (14-5, 10 KOs) was as dangerous as a stick of dynamite and so did the nearly sold-out crowd at Toyota Arena.
What they didn’t know was both have chins of granite.
It didn’t take long for the action to ignite. After Munguia connected solidly with a body shot, Derevyanchenko opened up with a two-fisted attack that had the Mexican fighter on his heels. Both blasted each other with lefts and rights.
The crowd went crazy.
Derevyanchenko showed he could take Munguia’s best early and both also displayed outstanding chins. After each connected with big blasts, they looked at each other almost surprised that the other was still standing.
Both fighters almost seemed to take turns out-performing the other with combustive combinations that seemed to echo in the arena.
Derevyanchenko unloaded in the fifth round in what could be the Round of the Year. Each connected with blows that snapped each other’s head violently and each returned with more big shots. It was surprising to see neither fighter seemed seriously hurt. Stunned, yes, but neither was close to going down. Derevyanchenko seemed to have a slight advantage.
The crowd ate it up.
Munguia seemed determined to crash the Ukrainian fighter’s dreams and unloaded with a ferocious volley of blows. The left hooks seemed to be the most effective punch for the taller Mexican fighter, but Derevyanchenko survived.
Just when it seemed Munguia had gained the momentum, Derevyanchenko rammed his head into the Munguia who immediately was hurt by the collision. When the fight resumed, Derevyanchenko took control as Munguia winced in pain. The Ukrainain suddenly gained control of the match.
When it seemed Munguia was losing the fight, he used the left hook to regain control. Throughout the fight the left hook seemed to be Munguia’s most potent weapon. The Mexican fighter refrained from avoiding blows and went forward with more determination. It paid off.
In the 11th round a left hook to the body by the Mexican fighter forced the Ukrainian to hold again. It was a foretelling moment.
Both fighters shook hands in the final round. No one knew who was ahead and Munguia launched into an all-out attack with left hooks. A left to the body and left to the head saw Derevyanchenko slump to the floor. A body shot opened up an even more serious attack by Munguia who chased Derevyanchenko around the ring. Always targeting the body, the Mexican fighter had the Ukrainian fighter in survival mode.
“He punched me in the rib,” said Derevyanchenko.
Derevyanchenko survived but lost the last round 10-8 due to the knockdown. It proved the difference in the fight as the judges scored it 114-113 twice and 115-112 for Munguia.
“I’m really happy I won,” said Munguia. “He was moving a lot but I caught him.”
Derevyanchenko felt he won the majority of the 12 rounds.
“I thought I won eight, nine rounds,” said Derevyanchenko.
Munguia was sure he won.
“I was doing my work and started working on the body. Once he went down I knew that I had it,” Munguia said.
After the fight Munguia received a call from Jose Benavidez, the father of David Benavidez.
Munguia assured him he is ready for anyone.
“After this, whatever champion is ready I’m waiting for them,” he said.
Mosley
Pomona’s Shane Mosley Jr. (20-4, 11 KOs) battered D’Mitrius Ballard (21-2-1, 13 KOs) for four rounds before finally scoring a knockdown in the fifth and ending the fight with a seventh round knockout in their middleweight contest.
Boos cascaded the arena in the third round but Mosley was just getting started. Eventually the early body shots on Ballard began to break him down and resulted in a six-punch battering that sent him reeling across the ring and down for a count in the fifth round.
Ballard survived that round and another.
Mosley pounded away with overhand rights that found the mark almost every time. Then he mixed body shots and a right uppercut and Ballard was in trouble again. He tried to fight his way out of it but only got in more trouble as Mosley connected again with eight more blows including a head-snapper that forced referee Thomas Taylor to jump in to stop the fight at 1:42 of the seventh round.
Mosley was declared the winner by knockout and the new NABO middleweight titlist.
“In the early rounds I just wanted to break that body down. He kept his hands really high. Once he started pulling those hand down to protect that. I started going over the top,” said Mosley.
Mayeli Flores Beats Mariana Juarez
A battle between two Mexican super bantamweights saw the younger Mayeli Flores (10-1-1, 3 KOs) pound her way to victory over legendary Mariana “Barbie” Juarez (55-13-4, 19 KOs) after eight ferocious rounds.
How Juarez survived without suffering a knockdown was her decades of skill.
Mexico’s City’s Juarez used her jab and movement to win the first round as Flores bobbed and weaved looking to close the distance with overhand rights and wide left hooks. By the second round she found the range.
Flores pounded away at Juarez with power blow after power blow. Juarez was able to slip most of the shots but not all of them Her sharp jab was not enough to keep the shorter Flores from scoring.
The constant pressure by Flores (pictured in the white trunks) forced Juarez to cover up against the ropes. The shorter Mexican fighter unloaded with a barrage of blows as the crowd’s cheers got louder anticipating a knockout. Somehow Juarez used her craft and guile to fight out off the ropes and change places. It was a near knockout but Juarez evaded a stoppage.
“I think at that part, she used her experience. That was the key for Mariana, that she used her experience to survive,” said Flores.
In the fifth round Juarez pounded away at Flores’’ body and that seemed to take the momentum away from Flores. Juarez then returned to stiff jabs and pivoted away. It was Juarez best round since the opening but Flores was still pounding away.
Flores increased the pressure in the sixth round with a furious attack. The multi-division former champion Juarez tried to jab her way out but was caught with savage blows. Again Flores unloaded a furious attack and this time Juarez’s face showed blood and it looked bad for the legendary fighter.
She survived.
Juarez knew she was behind and stopped moving. She planted her feet and fired away at Flores who seemed excited about the new tactics. Both exchanged liberally but though Juarez connected, her blows were not as forceful as Flores. Still, Juarez kept punching.
Referee Jack Reiss seemed concerned but allowed the future hall of fame fighter to continue. She was determined to fight it out.
In the last round, both fighters fired away with Juarez and Flores both looking for a knockout to end the fight. Both connected but Flores had more zing on her punches. Juarez slipped and countered and kept winging blows against the shorter fighter until the final bell.
Both hugged at the bell.
“Not for nothing I respect Mariana Juarez. It demonstrated that the Mexican women can fight at a high level,” said Flores. “She was one of the fighters I looked at when I was young.”
Sandoval Wins
Rialto’s Ricardo Sandoval (22-2, 16 KOs) showed off his higher level of boxing in defeating L.A.’s Rocco Santomauro (22-2, 6 KOs) by unanimous decision after eight rounds in a flyweight contest.
Sandoval could not miss with the overhand rights and later used a body attack to administer more blows. After dominating the first seven rounds the Rialto fighter tired and that opened it up for Santomauro who was in great condition despite absorbing a pounding.
After 10 rounds Sandoval was deemed the winner by unanimous decision 96-94 twice and 98-92.
Photos credit: Al Applerose
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Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Usyk Outpoints Fury and Itauma has the “Wow Factor” in Riyadh
Oleksandr Usyk left no doubt that he is the best heavyweight of his generation and one of the greatest boxers of all time with a unanimous decision over Tyson Fury tonight at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. But although the Ukrainian won eight rounds on all three scorecards, this was no runaway. To pirate a line from one of the DAZN talking heads, Fury had his moments in every round but Usyk had more moments.
The early rounds were fought at a faster pace than the first meeting back in May. At the mid-point, the fight was even. The next three rounds – the next five to some observers – were all Usyk who threw more punches and landed the cleaner shots.
Fury won the final round in the eyes of this reporter scoring at home, but by then he needed a knockout to pull the match out of the fire.
The last round was an outstanding climax to an entertaining chess match during which both fighters took turns being the pursuer and the pursued.
An Olympic gold medalist and a unified world champion at cruiserweight and heavyweight, the amazing Usyk improved his ledger to 23-0 (14). His next fight, more than likely, will come against the winner of the Feb. 22 match in Ridayh between Daniel Dubois and Joseph Parker which will share the bill with the rematch between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.
Fury (34-2-1) may fight Anthony Joshua next. Regardless, no one wants a piece of Moses Itauma right now although the kid is only 19 years old.
Moses Itauma
Raised in London by a Nigerian father and a Slovakian mother, Itauma turned heads once again with another “wow” performance. None of his last seven opponents lasted beyond the second round.
His opponent tonight, 34-year-old Australian Demsey McKean, lasted less than two minutes. Itauma, a southpaw with blazing fast hands, had the Aussie on the deck twice during the 117-second skirmish. The first knockdown was the result of a cuffing punch that landed high on the head; the second knockdown was produced by an overhand left. McKean went down hard as his chief cornerman bounded on to the ring apron to halt the massacre.
Itauma (12-0, 10 KOs after going 20-0 as an amateur) is the real deal. It was the second straight loss for McKean (22-2) who lasted into the 10th round against Filip Hrgovic in his last start.
Bohachuk-Davis
In a fight billed as the co-main although it preceded Itauma-McKean, Serhii Bohachuk, an LA-based Ukrainian, stopped Ishmael Davis whose corner pulled him out after six frames.
Both fighters were coming off a loss in fights that were close on the scorecards, Bohachuk falling to Vergil Ortiz Jr in a Las Vegas barnburner and Davis losing to Josh Kelly.
Davis, who took the fight on short notice, subbing for Ismail Madrimov, declined to 13-2. He landed a few good shots but was on the canvas in the second round, compliments of a short left hook, and the relentless Bohachuk (25-2, 24 KOs) eventually wore him down.
Fisher-Allen
In a messy, 10-round bar brawl masquerading as a boxing match, Johnny Fisher, the Romford Bull, won a split decision over British countryman David Allen. Two judges favored Fisher by 95-94 tallies with the dissenter favoring Allen 96-93. When the scores were announced, there was a chorus of boos and those watching at home were outraged.
Allen was a step up in class for Fisher. The Doncaster man had a decent record (23-5-2 heading in) and had been routinely matched tough (his former opponents included Dillian Whyte, Luis “King Kong” Ortiz and three former Olympians). But Allen was fairly considered no more than a journeyman and Fisher (12-0 with 11 KOs, eight in the opening round) was a huge favorite.
In round five, Allen had Fisher on the canvas twice although only one was ruled a true knockdown. From that point, he landed the harder shots and, at the final bell, he fell to canvas shedding tears of joy, convinced that he had won.
He did not win, but he exposed Johnny Fisher as a fighter too slow to compete with elite heavyweights, a British version of the ponderous Russian-Canadian campaigner Arslanbek Makhmudov.
Other Bouts of Note
In a spirited 10-round featherweight match, Scotland’s Lee McGregor, a former European bantamweight champion and stablemate of former unified 140-pound title-holder Josh Taylor, advanced to 15-1-1 (11) with a unanimous decision over Isaac Lowe (25-3-3). The judges had it 96-92 and 97-91 twice.
A cousin and regular houseguest of Tyson Fury, Lowe fought most of the fight with cuts around both eyes and was twice deducted a point for losing his gumshield.
In a fight between super featherweights that could have gone either way, Liverpool southpaw Peter McGrail improved to 11-1 (6) with a 10-round unanimous decision over late sub Rhys Edwards. The judges had it 96-95 and 96-94 twice.
McGrail, a Tokyo Olympian and 2018 Commonwealth Games gold medalist, fought from the third round on with a cut above his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads. It was the first loss for Edwards (16-1), a 24-year-old Welshman who has another fight booked in three weeks.
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Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
Fury-Usyk Reignited: Can the Gypsy King Avenge his Lone Defeat?
In professional boxing, the heavyweight division, going back to the days of John L. Sullivan, is the straw that stirs the drink. By this measure, the fight on May 18 of this year at Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was the biggest prizefight in decades. The winner would emerge as the first undisputed heavyweight champion since 1999 when Lennox Lewis out-pointed Evander Holyfield in their second meeting.
The match did not disappoint. It had several twists and turns.
Usyk did well in the early rounds, but the Gypsy King rattled Usyk with a harsh right hand in the fifth stanza and won rounds five through seven on all three cards. In the ninth, the match turned sharply in favor of the Ukrainian. Fury was saved by the bell after taking a barrage of unanswered punches, the last of which dictated a standing 8-count from referee Mark Nelson. But Fury weathered the storm and with his amazing powers of recuperation had a shade the best of it in the final stanza.
The decision was split: 115-112 and 114-113 for Usyk who became a unified champion in a second weight class; 114-113 for Fury.
That brings us to tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 21) where Usyk and Fury will renew acquaintances in the same ring where they had their May 18 showdown.
The first fight was a near “pick-‘em” affair with Fury closing a very short favorite at most of the major bookmaking establishments. The Gypsy King would have been a somewhat higher favorite if not for the fact that he was coming off a poor showing against MMA star Francis Ngannou and had a worrisome propensity for getting cut. (A cut above Fury’s right eye in sparring pushed back the fight from its original Feb. 11 date.)
Tomorrow’s sequel, bearing the tagline “Reignited,” finds Usyk a consensus 7/5 favorite although those odds could shorten by post time. (There was no discernible activity after today’s weigh-in where Fury, fully clothed, topped the scales at 281, an increase of 19 pounds over their first meeting.)
Given the politics of boxing, anything “undisputed” is fragile. In June, Usyk abandoned his IBF belt and the organization anointed Daniel Dubois their heavyweight champion based upon Dubois’s eighth-round stoppage of Filip Hrgovic in a bout billed for the IBF interim title. The malodorous WBA, a festering boil on the backside of boxing, now recognizes 43-year-old Kubrat Pulev as its “regular” heavyweight champion.
Another difference between tomorrow’s fight card and the first installment is that the May 18 affair had a much stronger undercard. Two strong pairings were the rematch between cruiserweights Jai Opetaia and Maris Briedis (Opetaia UD 12) and the heavyweight contest between unbeatens Agit Kabayal and Frank Sanchez (Kabayel KO 7).
Tomorrow’s semi-wind-up between Serhii Bohachuk and Ismail Madrimov lost luster when Madrimov came down with bronchitis and had to withdraw. The featherweight contest between Peter McGrail and Dennis McCann fell out when McCann’s VADA test returned an adverse finding. Bohachuk and McGrail remain on the card but against late-sub opponents in matches that are less intriguing.
The focal points of tomorrow’s undercard are the bouts involving undefeated British heavyweights Moses Itauma (10-0, 8 KOs) and Johnny Fisher (12-0, 11 KOs). Both are heavy favorites over their respective opponents but bear watching because they represent the next generation of heavyweight standouts. Fury and Usyk are getting long in the tooth. The Gypsy King is 36; Usyk turns 38 next month.
Bob Arum once said that nobody purchases a pay-per-view for the undercard and, years from now, no one will remember which sanctioning bodies had their fingers in the pie. So, Fury-Usyk II remains a very big deal, although a wee bit less compelling than their first go-around.
Will Tyson Fury avenge his lone defeat? Turki Alalshikh, the Chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority and the unofficial czar of “major league” boxing, certainly hopes so. His Excellency has made known that he stands poised to manufacture a rubber match if Tyson prevails.
We could have already figured this out, but Alalshikh violated one of the protocols of boxing when he came flat out and said so. He effectively made Tyson Fury the “A-side,” no small potatoes considering that the most relevant variable on the checklist when handicapping a fight is, “Who does the promoter need?”
The Uzyk-Fury II fight card will air on DAZN with a suggested list price of $39.99 for U.S. fight fans. The main event is expected to start about 5:45 pm ET / 2:45 pm PT.
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Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
Unheralded Bruno Surace went to Tijuana and Forged the TSS 2024 Upset of the Year
The Dec. 14 fight at Tijuana between Jaime Munguia and Bruno Surace was conceived as a stay-busy fight for Munguia. The scuttlebutt was that Munguia’s promoters, Zanfer and Top Rank, wanted him to have another fight under his belt before thrusting him against Christian Mbilli in a WBC eliminator with the prize for the winner (in theory) a date with Canelo Alvarez.
Munguia came to the fore in May of 2018 at Verona, New York, when he demolished former U.S. Olympian Sadam Ali, conqueror of Miguel Cotto. That earned him the WBO super welterweight title which he successfully defended five times.
Munguia kept winning as he moved up in weight to middleweight and then super middleweight and brought a 43-0 (34) record into his Cinco de Mayo 2024 match with Canelo.
Jaime went the distance with Alvarez and had a few good moments while losing a unanimous decision. He rebounded with a 10th-round stoppage of Canada’s previously undefeated Erik Bazinyan.
There was little reason to think that Munguia would overlook Surace as the Mexican would be fighting in his hometown for the first time since February of 2022 and would want to send the home folks home happy. Moreover, even if Munguia had an off-night, there was no reason to think that the obscure Surace could capitalize. A Frenchman who had never fought outside France, Surace brought a 25-0-2 record and a 22-fight winning streak, but he had only four knockouts to his credit and only eight of his wins had come against opponents with winning records.
It appeared that Munguia would close the show early when he sent the Frenchman to the canvas in the second round with a big left hook. From that point on, Surace fought mostly off his back foot, throwing punches in spurts, whereas the busier Munguia concentrated on chopping him down with body punches. But Surace absorbed those punches well and at the midway point of the fight, behind on the cards but nonplussed, it now looked as if the bout would go the full 10 rounds with Munguia winning a lopsided decision.
Then lightning struck. Out of the blue, Surace connected with an overhand right to the jaw. Munguia went down flat on his back. He rose a fraction-of-a second before the count reached “10,”, but stumbled as he pulled himself upright. His eyes were glazed and referee Juan Jose Ramirez, a local man, waived it off. There was no protest coming from Munguia or his cornermen. The official time was 2:36 of round six.
At major bookmaking establishments, Jaime Munguia was as high as a 35/1 favorite. No world title was at stake, yet this was an upset for the ages.
Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank
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