Sunday Report Card: The Ultimate Weekend Wrap-Up (Nov. 5 edition)

Brooklyn, NY: Deontay Wilder TKO 1 Bermane Stiverne, WBC heavyweight title

It could be hard to write a report on a fight that took less than three minutes and involved less than 50 punches altogether (including Stiverne’s meager four punch output, all misses), but there is a lot to be said about Wilder’s attitude during this fight and the enormous confidence he displayed when dispatching a solid former champion who gave him a decent fight the first time around. The unbeaten bomber from Alabama looked supremely dominant and simply ran over Stiverne (25-3-1, 21 KO), especially in the frightening beatdown he dished out during the last few seconds of the bout, where not even referee Arthur Mercante Jr. could hold off Wilder (39-0, 38 KO) as he unleashed his wrath upon a pretty much defenseless Stiverne on the ropes. It would appear that the mounting frustration on the numerous cancellations and postponements in Wilder’s career, as well as the rise of Anthony Joshua into a bonafide superstar, turned Wilder even wilder, with a layer of crazier and maybe a touch of madder. In any case, it was great to have a big heavyweight fight delivering such a demolishing performance, and Wilder now has every reason to drop the “told-you-so” on all of us.

The winner goes on to: Sure, a dream matchup with the other unbeaten heavyweight champ and KO artist is what everyone expects. But holding on to his grudge and inflatable garden slide turning it into an advantage against Joshua in a potential mega-unification bout will prove to be a tricky proposition. We’re likely still a good year away from that one.

Shawn Porter UD 12 Adrian Granados, welterweights

They both needed a defining victory very badly in order to rearrange their careers, but it all came down to who wanted it more, and evidently former world champion Porter (28-2-1, 17 KO) had more gas in the tank to outlast the always dangerous Granados (18-6-2, 11 KO) to score a victory by tallies of 117-111 on all three cards to become the new mandatory challenger for the WBC 147 lb belt. The third round was clearly the moment in which both fighters could have taken off in a winning direction, but Porter was clearly the one who had it in him to move ahead and finish stronger down the stretch.

The winner goes on to: A rematch with Keith Thurman? Sure, great matchup, but that could take up to a year to work out, if Thurman decides to go for a real challenge in the meantime instead of taking an easy defense before complying with his mandatory defense.

Sergey Lipinets UD 12 Akihiro Kondo, vacant IBF junior welterweight title

Russia’s Lipinets (13-0, 10 KO) was clearly the favorite and he did it with a clear win by unanimous decision over Japan’s Kondo (29-7-1, 16 KO) to claim the vacant IBF world junior welterweight title formerly held by Terence Crawford, who has moved to welterweight. The fight was competitive in the early rounds, and there was a cut on Lipinets due to a head butt that made things harder for him, but the smell of blood made him stronger, and he ended up taking the fights by scorecards of 117-111 (twice) and 118-110.

Dominic Breazeale TKO 8 Eric Molina, heavyweights

Both Breazeale (19-1, 17 KO) and Molina (26-5, 19 KO) have had their shares of missed chances, but this fight gave the winner a fresh start in a suddenly super attractive heavyweight division. They threatened to be their usual over-cautious selves in the first few rounds, but as soon as Breazeale moved in for the kill, Molina had no chance. Molina did score repeatedly with a few occasional bombs that rocked Breazeale, but a single hook in the eighth sent Molina down so badly that his corner had no choice but to step in as the bell sounded to end the round to save their fighter from further punishment.

Amanda Serrano TKO 1 Marilyn Hernandez, female junior lightweights

Is this the end of the line for five-division champ Serrano? Say it ain’t so! Serrano (34-1-1, 26 KO) has been threatening to take her act to the MMA scene. But regardless of her future, she was her usual dominating self, demolishing former fellow world titlist Marilyn Hernandez (26-10, 17 KO) of the Dominican Republic with an overwhelming blitzkrieg attack that sent Hernandez to the floor courtesy of a body blow just seconds into the bout. Two more of those, and it was all over, as the referee stepped in to halt the carnage at the 2:33 mark. Quick work from one of female boxing’s best ever.

The winner goes on to: Should she make the full jump to MMA for financial reasons, Serrano will probably become the first athlete to make more money in that arena than what she could make in boxing. It’s too bad that boxing cannot yet create the environment for female athletes to make decent enough money to devote themselves to the sport for life.

November 4, Monte Carlo  

Dmitry Bivol KO 1 Trent Broadhurst, WBA light heavyweight title

Bivol (12-0, 10 KO) is a rising star, and he was clearly too much for Broadhurst (20-2, 12 KO) in this bout that took place in the luxurious Salle Medecin in the lavish principality of Monte Carlo, Monaco. A crushing right hand was all it took to send Broadhurst down and out.

Jamie McDonnell ND 3 Liborio Solis, WBA bantamweight title

A sad ending for a much-anticipated matchup. McDonnell (29-2-1, 13 KO) was looking to make an impression in a suddenly revitalized division when he clashed heads with Venezuela’s Solis (25-5-1, 11 KO), causing the English champ to sustain a terrible cut over his left eye that caused the premature stoppage that allowed him to keep his title belt on a no decision verdict.

Scott Quigg TKO 6 Oleg Yefimovich, featherweights

Quigg (34-1-2, 25 KO), a former world champion trying to find his way back into contention in a WBA title eliminator, was too much for Russia’s Yefimovych (29-3-1, 16 KO) as he piled up enough punishment over six rounds to cause a stoppage that felt a little bit premature, but not completely inappropriate.

Agit Kabayel MD 12 Dereck Chisora, European heavyweight title

Mild upset here, as the unbeaten Germany’s Kabayel (17-0, 12 KO) was able to outwork and outmuscle his way towards a defense of his European heavyweight belt against former world title challenger Chisora (27-8, 19 KO), scoring just enough in the first eight rounds to keep Chisora’s late rally irrelevant in the big picture, and sending the Zimbabwe-born Brit into fringe contender territory.

November 4, Tijuana, Mexico

Luis Nery TKO 6 Artur Villanueva, bantamweights

Nery (25-0, 19 KO), the unbeaten WBC bantamweight champion, scored a pedestrian stoppage over Villanueva (31-3-1, 17 KO) in a non-title bout. Nery was knocked down in the fourth but rallied to overwhelm Villanueva and smother him with a few dozen punches before the bout was finally called off halfway through the sixth.

November 4, Ciudad Juarez, Mexico

Jhonny Gonzalez UD 12 Irving Berry, super featherweights.

Gonzalez (65-10, 54 KO) continued his long career with a dominant win against Berry (23-7-2, 10 KO) with a minor belt on the line in front of his countrymen, trying to gather support and enthusiasm to continue fighting after a storied and hard-fought career. Gonzalez sent Berry to the canvas on three separate occasions and won by the prohibitive margin of 120-105 on all three cards.

Also on this card:  

Lourdes Juarez (22-2, 3 KO) UD 10 Diana Fernández (16-2, 3 KOs), female bantamweights

Misael “Chino” Rodríguez (5-0, 3 KO) TKO 2 Isaac Méndez (16-16, 14 KOs), middleweights

November 3, Nizhny Novgorod, Russia

Andrey Sirotkin TKO 10 Ricardo Mayorga, super middleweights

It wasn’t supposed to last this long, and if you ask me, it wasn’t even supposed to happen, but it did, and the 44-year old Mayorga (32-10-1, 26 KO) survived to live another day and cash another check. For now. Not much to say about Sirotkin, a very basic fighter with solid ring movement and average punching power who should start thinking about taking on guys his age. In the end, Sirotkin improved to 14-0 (4 KO) after dominating the fight and landing almost at will until Mayorga retired claiming a hand injury. An anti-climatic ending to a fight that no one expected to have any kind of climax to begin with.

The winner goes on to: Is he going somewhere? Hard to tell, based on this performance.

The loser goes on to: Retirement. Please. And please no MMA fights, ever! Seriously!

November 2, Tucson, Arizona

Juan Carlos Abreu KO 8 Jesus Soto Karass, welterweights

Abreu (20-3-1, 19 KO) destroyed what is left of a great ring warrior in Soto Karass (28-13-4, 18 KO) in eight rounds Thursday night without ever losing a round. Soto Karass was as game as he has always been, but he is in a position in which his mind still knows what to do and his body is unable to comply, and that’s as good a recipe for retirement as any other. A wild volley in the eighth put Soto Karass on the canvas, and after one more knockdown he went down for good, barely a minute into the round, and probably in his last action as a professional fighter.

Also in this card:

Ryan “Kingry” García (12-0, 11 KO) KO 3 César Valenzuela (14-6-1, 5 KO)

November 1, Medellín, Colombia

Fabian Maidana UD 10 Johan Perez, welterweights

An ill-advised major step up by a solid contender who bit off more than he could chew? Maybe. But in the end, Maidana (14-0, 10 KO), younger brother of “Chino” Marcos Maidana, stayed unbeaten in the biggest fight of his career against a true challenge in former world champ Perez (22-5-2, 15 KO), who set the tone of the confrontation by showing up a full four pounds over the limit at the weigh-in. The fight was allowed to happen on the condition of a second weigh-in fight day, and the difference in power, energy and experience did show in favor of Perez. But Maidana was too determined to make a splash in this card as part of the WBA Convention, with legends like Roberto Durán, Evander Holyfield and his own former titlist brother at ringside, and he dug deep to find a way to outbox the boxer and outfox the old fox to win by scores of 97-93 (twice) and 96-94. Nice win, indeed, but it may be time to scale back to a couple of easier fights before moving back into contender territory for Maidana, who has the chops and the power but not quite the experience just yet.

The winner goes on to: Hopefully Maidana will team up once again with The Rodriguez boxing team in Argentina to have a few more fights locally and build up a fan base before making another jump into the deeper end of the pool.

Photo credit: Amanda Westcott / SHOWTIME

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