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A Flurry of Interesting Fights on Friday feeds Into a Soft Saturday Slate

It’s rare when the Friday boxing slate is stronger than the Saturday schedule, but that’s the case this weekend. There are no world title fights on either day, but some interesting offerings that warrant a closer look.
York Hall in gritty East London, which might be described as the nerve center of British boxing, has been holding fights since the 1950s. Friday’s offering, a Queensberry Promotions (Frank Warren) event, stands as one of the better cards staged at the intimate, 1,200-seat venue. Topping the marquee is a 12-round fight between Dennis “The Menace” McCann and the noted spoiler Ionut Baluta, his longtime sparring partner.
McCann, an Irish Traveler who took up boxing at age 11 after dropping out of school, was Matt McGrain’s 2020 British Prospect of the Year. McCann “seems as though he belongs in another era,” wrote McGrain. “From the period, parochial nickname, to the absence of an amateur career, to the haircut that would look just fine on Billy Conn, McCann has the feel of a throwback.”
Dennis the Menace was 19 years old and had eight pro fights under his belt when McGrain wrote those words. Nowadays, he’s 14-0 (8 KOs) but his appearance hasn’t changed. He still has the aura of someone who walked off the cover of a teenage fan magazine from the 1950s, more Pat Boone than Elvis Presley.

McCann
McCann, 22, has never fought beyond eight rounds. In the 29-year-old Baluta, a U.K.-based Romanian, he is meeting someone who lacks a big punch but has never been stopped. Baluta (16-4, 3 KOs) went 12 competitive rounds with Michael Conlan at this venue in 2021, earning a draw on one of the scorecards.
In the co-feature, Scotland’s Nathaniel Collins (12-0, 6 KOs) opposes Raza Hamza (17-1-1, 7 KOs). A 29-year-old southpaw who enters the contest in good form — four of his last five wins have come inside the distance — Collins will be defending his BBBofC featherweight title.
Atlanta
On this side of the pond, the most attractive of the Friday cards will be staged in Atlanta at an intimate basketball stadium. It’s a card with a “ShoBox”-feel. The participants in the three featured bouts, all 8-rounders, are collectively 83-3-1.
The fighter with the biggest upside, it says here, is super lightweight Kurt Scoby (12-0, 10 KOs). In his college days at Azusa Pacific University in the LA-area, Scoby (pronounced Scooby) was a record-setting football running back. Back then, he carried about 200 pounds on his five-foot-eight frame. Now he weighs 140 when fighting trim, but he hits like a heavyweight as his former opponents can attest. None of the last seven lasted beyond the second round.
Scoby’s opponent, southpaw Narciso Carmona (11-0-1, 6 KOs), is a 25-year-old Spaniard.
What figures to be the most competitive match on the card is the super middleweight contest between Money Powell IV (13-1, 8 KOs), a fighter with a strong amateur pedigree, and Colorado’s Shawn McCalman (13-0, 7 KOs) who delivered a smashing performance in his last start, scoring a third-round TKO on a PBC card in Minneapolis. A workout partner of Terence Crawford, McCalman, 29, is managed by former Main Events matchmaker Jolene Mizzone who is now flying solo.
Another 8-rounder pits North Carolina’s Javon Campbell (12-1, 10 KOs) against Venezuela’s Lorenzo Parra (22-1, 17 KOs). And in 4-round featherweight match of note, 22-year-old Hawaiian southpaw Asa Stevens (4-0, 2 KOs) will showcase his talent against Milwaukee’s D’Angelo Hopgood (2-1). A 2019 National Golden Gloves champion, Stevens is managed by David McWater who also handles Money Powell IV.
The Atlanta show is listed on Friday’s DAZN schedule.
Argentina
There are no world title fights this weekend, but a Friday show in Buenos Aires features a fighter on the cusp of a world title shot. Gustavo Lemos, ranked #1 by the IBF at lightweight, opposes countryman Javier Jose Clavero at historic Luna Park. This is a “stay busy” fight for the undefeated (28-0, 18 KOs) Lemos. Clavero (30-10-2, 7 KOs is 3-5-2 in his last ten and coming off back-to-back draws against opponents who were collectively 15-68-11.
Lemos likes to fight off his front foot. His style has been compared with Jeff Fenech. In his last outing, Lemos brutalized former IBF world featherweight champion Lee Selby of Wales en route to a fifth-round stoppage. Selby hadn’t previously been stopped. Prominent Argentine boxing scribe Diego Morilla, writing from ringside, called it “an epic performance.”
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Argentina’s Fernando Martinez Wins His Rematch with Kazuto Ioka

In an excellent fight climaxed by a furious 12th 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

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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Late Bloomer Anthony Cacace TKOs Hometown Favorite Leigh Wood in Nottingham

Frank Warren’s Queensberry Promotions was at Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham, England, tonight with a card featuring hometown favorite Leigh Wood against Ireland’s Anthony “Apache” Cacace.
Wood, a former two-time WBA featherweight champion, known for dramatic comebacks in bouts he was losing, may have reached the end of the road at age 36. He had his moments tonight, rocking Cacace on several occasions and winning the eighth round, but he paid the price, returning to his corner after round eight with swelling around both of his eyes.
In the ninth, Cacace, an 11/5 favorite, hurt Wood twice with left hands, the second of which knocked Wood into the ropes, dictating a standing 8-count by referee John Latham. When the bout resumed, Cacace went for the kill and battered Wood around the ring, forcing Wood’s trainer Ben Davison to throw in the towel. The official time was 2:15 of round nine.
Akin to Wood, Northern Ireland’s Cacace (24-1, 9 KOs) is also 36 years old and known as a late bloomer. This was his ninth straight win going back to 2017 (he missed all of 2018 and 2020). He formerly held the IBF 130-pound world title, a diadem he won with a stoppage of then-undefeated and heavily favored Joe Cordina, but that belt wasn’t at stake tonight as Cacace abandoned it rather than fulfill his less-lucrative mandatory. Wood falls to 28-4.
Semi-Wind-Up
Nottingham light heavyweight Ezra Taylor, fighting in his hometown for the first time since pro debut, delighted his fan base with a comprehensive 10-round decision over previously undefeated Troy Jones. Taylor, who improved to 12-0 (9) won by scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.
This was Taylor’s first fight with new trainer Malik Scott, best known for his work with Deontay Wilder. The victory may have earned him a match with Commonwealth title-holder Lewis Edmondson. Jones was 12-0 heading in.
Other Bouts of Note
In his first fight as a featherweight, Liam Davies rebounded from his first defeat with a 12-round unanimous decision over Northern Ireland’s previously undefeated Kurt Walker. Davies, who improved to 17-1 (8), staved off a late rally to prevail on scores of 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. It was the first pro loss for the 30-year-old Walker (12-1), a Tokyo Olympian.
In a mild upset, Owen Cooper, a saucy Worcestershire man, won a 10-round decision over former Josh Taylor stablemate Chris Kongo. The referee’s scorecard read 96-94.
Cooper improved to 11-1 (4). It was the third loss in 20 starts for Kongo.
A non-televised 8-rounder featured junior welterweight Sam Noakes in a stay-busy fight. A roofer by trade and the brother of British welterweight title-holder Sean Noakes, Sam improved to 17-0 (15 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of overmatched Czech import Patrik Balez (13-5-1).
Photo credit: Leigh Dawney / Queensberry
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