Our resident boxing writer Diego Morilla serves up a full weekend wrap-up of the most relevant boxing events in the worldwide scene. Every fight that matters is right here, in one place, and at one click away. Follow Morilla on Twitter at @MorillaBoxing
Brooklyn, N.Y., June 14th
Chris Algieri UD 12 Ruslan Provodnikov, WBO junior welterweight title
Upset meets surprise in this one. Algieri (20-0, 8 KO) had promised to win this bout using his “master boxing” approach, and he did, at least in the minds of two of the ringside judges who saw him outsmart and outland Siberia’s Provodnikov (23-3, 16 KO) in this controversial fight. The “Siberian Rocky” landed the more telling punches, being the aggressor and the more ferocious fighter as usual, but Algieri (who visited the canvas twice in the opening round and started the second round with a badly swollen left eye) managed to keep his distance and jab his way to victory by scores of 114-112 (twice) for Algieri and 117-109 for Provodnikov in one of this year’s first major game-changers in the elite welterweight division.
The winner goes on to: Any title in the 147 lb equals a top seed in the Mayweather brackets, but Algieri is still at least a few more upsets away from being Floyd’s next opponent.
The loser goes on to: Provodnikov has earned the respect of fans and media the hard way, and this defeat will not tarnish his solid reputation as an entertaining fighter.
Demetrius Andrade TKO 7 Brian Rose, WBO junior middleweight title
One would have thought that a title belt would inspire a fighter to improve his level of opposition in search of better challenges and paydays, but it looks like Andrade (21-0, 14 KO) wants to continue padding his record with victories against sub-par opposition. In this occasion, the supremely talented but often unexciting Andrade made the first defense of his belt with a stoppage of Rose (25-2-1, 7 KO) in seven one-sided rounds, dropping the challenger twice in the proceedings and dominating him throughout the contest.
The winner goes on to: Unless he starts taking on riskier propositions very soon, he will continue being a footnote in a division where talent and great fights abound.
Seanie Monaghan UD 10 Elvir Muriqi, light heavyweights
A crossroads fight of sorts for two fighters headed in completely different directions. This time, Monaghan (24-0, 13 KO) remained unbeaten and on his way to bigger and better things with a unanimous nod over a once-promising Muriqui (40-7, 24 KO), who has now lost twice in a row after this 99-90 (twice), 98-91 points defeat. It wasn’t easy for either one of them, with Muriqui briefly visiting the canvas in the fourth round and Monaghan suffering cuts over his eyes.
The winner goes on to: Monaghan has the looks, the following, and the record to make a splash in a division undergoing some measure of reconstruction, and it shouldn’t be long before we see him in a significant fight.
Atlantic City, N.J., June 14th
Glen Tapia KO 1 Keenan Collins, junior middleweights
Nothing like a comfort, confidence-building victory in front of a partisan crowd to revive a fighter’s spirit. That’s what Tapia (21-1, 14 KO) got in this fight against Collins (15-9-3, 10 KO) when he stopped him in the very first round to put an end to his homecoming fight after his tough loss against James Kirkland in six rounds in his previous appearance. Being a part of Miguel Cotto’s camp has obviously helped Tapia, who looked strong and determined from the opening bell and dropped Collins only seconds after the beginning of the fight with a superb combination. After another knockdown, Tapia went out to get the third and definitive one before the referee decided it was enough. Good victory for a young contender who deserves another shot against a big opponent.
The winner goes on to: With the right guidance and motivation, Tapia could easily become a factor in the always interesting 154 lb division.
Jesse Hart TKO 6 Shujaa El Amin, super middleweights
Hart (14-0, 11 KO) is rapidly gaining stature as a serious threat in the 168 lb division, and this fight took him a step further as he disposed of a tough veteran in Savage (12-6, 6 KO), dropping him three times and finally stopping him at the end of the sixth round. The knockdowns came in succession in each one of the first three rounds, and when Hart’s lead was just too big to be denied, he found a way to land one single devastating punch that put an end to the fight at the 1:36 mark of the sixth round, in another display of power and skill.
Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, June 14th
Jorge Arce TKO 8 Jorge Lacierva, featherweights
Can’t keep a true warrior down. Former multi-division titlist Arce (64-7-2, 49 KO) did have to put his whole bag of tricks to the service of this hard-earned victory against another old fox in Lacierva (42-10-6, 27 KO), but in the end Arce was the one who, as in many other previous occasions, lived to fight another day. Arce dropped Lacierva in the fourth with a hook to the body, and he pressed the action throughout the bout in spite of being cut over both eyes. Lacierva ended up staying in his corner in round 8 complaining of a shoulder injury, and now Arce is on his way to continuing his already impressive legacy with a possible title bout in the works.
The winner goes on to: It’s hard to see Arce going back to his former glories and his big paydays of the past, but we’ve said this before and we’ve been almost always wrong.WBC featherweight champion Johnny Gonzalez could be his next foe sometime in the fall.
McJoe Arroyo TKO 11 Hernan “Tyson” Marquez, IBF junior bantamweight eliminator
Quite the upset here. Even though Puerto Rico’s McJoe Arroyo (15-0, 7 KO) is considered one of the leading candidates to become the Next Big Thing in his country, Mexico’s Marquez (38-5, 26 KO) was seen as a very tough challenge for such a young contender. But after dropping Marquez four times in different rounds throughout his dominant performance, it was clear that the passing of the torch had been completed. Just another great chapter in one of boxing’s most storied national rivalries.
Alejandro Hernandez UD 12 Daniel Rosas, vacant WBO interim bantamweight title
Hernandez (28-10, 15 KO) owns one of the division’s most deceptive records, and he proved that even further in this mild upset over a highly-favored young contender in “Bad Boy” Rosas (18-2-1, 11 KO) to claim the pointless WBO interim bantamweight title after dropping him in the third round and manhandling him through the rest of the bout to win by scores of 116-111, 114-113 and 117-110.
Tlalnepantla de Baez, Mexico, June 14th
Humberto Soto UD 12 Emmanuel Addo, junior welterweights
Soto (64-8-2, 35 KO), one of the toughest and least-appreciated Mexican fighters of recent times, has never been the same after taking a beating from Lucas Matthysse in a title bout two years ago, but now he is on the comeback trail, and he demonstrated that he has more than enough to take care of guys like Buelvas any day of the week. The former multi-division titlist dropped Buelvas in round one, and then he simply walked through the rest of the proceedings to take the victory by scores of 118-108 and 118-106 (twice) and retain his laughable WBC international silver super lightweight belt as he waits for worthier pieces of hardware to come his way. Which is something that could happen very soon.
