Fans in the United States and Canada can now watch the full Billy Joe Saunders (24-0, 2 KOs) vs. Willie Monroe (21-2, 6 KOs) WBO middleweight title matchup via an exclusive stream from Banner Promotions. The link goes live at 5:30 p.m. with the fight beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET.
SONORA, MEXICO — Outside of a third round knockdown scare, veteran Orlando Salido dominated late replacement Aristedes Perez with methodical pressure and body-punching to score a seventh-round corner stoppage.
It didn’t take long for Salido to brush off nearly a year of inactivity. He continually trapped Perez on the ropes where the journeyman was hapless to stop the barrage of overhand rights, left hooks and body shots. The one bad moment came in the third when Salido was forced to his knees by a pinpoint right uppercut through the guard. Salido would remain in retreat for close to a minute before finishing the round strong with flurry of power shots.
Perez had enough by the end of the seventh and seemed to quit more from exhaustion than damage. Salido team reported been in negotiations with Vasyl Lomachenko for a long-awaited rematch.
Based on this performance, Salido has a tall order in repeating his win from several years ago. He was nearly KO’d in the final round of that win and enjoyed a significant weight advantage (coupled with a lenient ref who ignored his repeated low blows). Lomachenko is now much more seasoned while Salido has the wear and tear of four consecutive taxing fights since 2014 against Terdsak Kokietgym, Roman Martinez (2X) and Francisco Vargas.
Don’t be surprised if Lomachenko-Salido II looks a lot like the Klitschko-Brewster rematch.
Photo Credit: Hogan Photos
It’s safe to say the window is closed for Yuriorkis Gamboa. The former featherweight titlist, who just signed with Golden Boy Promotions this year in hopes of rebuilding his career, was floored twice by underdog Robinson Castellanos in route to a seventh round corner stoppage.
Although sporting a 23-12 record, Castellanos was the more fundamentally sound fighter. Gamboa looked heavy, exhibited sloppy punch technique, and little of the speed that once made him a P4P talent. His flashy potshots couldn’t hurt the larger Castellanos, who began looking to the time the right hand by the end of the second.
The straight right hand would floor Gamboa late in the third. The counter came off a wide Gamboa left hook. The Cuban tasted the canvas again in the fourth, this time off a lead overhand right just 30 seconds into the round. Gamboa survived, but couldn’t find a rhythm to turn the fight around.
Castellanos would land three solid left hooks throughout the seventh, and a flurry of body shots when Gamboa attempted to hold at round’s end. It was not a bad beating, but the pace, coupled with Gamboa’s poor conditioning, made him decide to not come out for the eighth.
Hindsight is 20/20, but we now know Gamoba leaving Top Rank was the worst decision of his career. Since then, his activity has been wildly inconsistent. The 50 Cent signing made matters even worse. Now he’s 35 and his greatest asset, superb reflexes and speed, are completely gone. Golden Boy can’t even feed him to one of their prospects if he can’t even get past a journeyman-level talent like Castellanos.
I guess the timing is finally right to make Gamboa-JuanMa.
Juan Francisco Estrada moved closer to a WBC title shot with a thorough deconstruction of Anuar Salas last night at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico.
After a slow first round that saw Estrada buzzed by a hook, the former unified flyweight titlist began picking apart Salas with 1-2s and digging body shots. Salas attempts to counter were futile as Estrada’s left hooks and right uppercuts continuously caught him out of position.
The fifth round saw Salas hit the canvas twice. The first was off an angled left hook to the liver. The second and final knockdown came courtesy of a right uppercut to the solar plexus.
The victory gives Estrada the WBC silver super flyweight title and puts him in line for a much-anticipated rematch with WBC champion Roman Gonzalez, who defeated Estrada via close unanimous decision in 2012. Estrada is currently #3 in the WBC’s super flyweight rankings.
VERONA, NY — We’re only in March, but it’s unlikely David Lemieux’s knockout of Curtis Stevens will be topped for the rest of the year.
The two powerful sluggers did what they do best — go for the kill. Lemieux came out throwing right-hand bombs through Stevens’s guard, while the Brooklynite tried to catch and counter with hard left hooks. Lemieux’s chopping right hand hurt Stevens twice over the final minute and allowed the Canadian to abuse him on the ropes with digging body shots.
Lemieux controlled the second round with the same aggression and higher punch output. As the pace slowed in the third, Lemieux came in with a right hand and beat Stevens to the punch with a short left for the fight-ending knockout.
The high-profile KO puts the Golden Boy promoted in contention to face Canelo Alvarez should the Mexican star emerge victorious against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in May and not be able to make a Gennady Golovkin super fight in September.
GAMBOA RETURNS WITH DECISION WIN: Yuriorkis Gamboa ended a year-plus sabbatical with a unanimous decision win over Rene Alvarado. Scores read 97-93 and 97-92 twice.
Photo Credit: Ryan Hafey/ Premier Boxing Champions
WBC heavyweight titlist Deontay Wilder used a sneaky right hand to erase a growing deficit and score a come from behind knockout of Gerald Washington.
The prevailing narrative before last night was that Washington, a former football player with limited experience at the elite level, wouldn’t be able to hang with a nine-year veteran like Wilder. But for the majority of the five rounds this lasted, it was Wilder who look indecisive and unable to deal with Washington’s offense. Washington outboxed Wilder by pushing him back with jabs and landing short power shots before clinches. The strategy had Wilder reluctant to get off first and dropping the first four rounds.
Lucky for Wilder, his immense power remains the equalizer. One short right hand dumped Washington on the canvas. He beat the count and was hit with a few more clean shots to force a debatable stoppage.
This was Wilder’s comeback fight from right hand and bicep surgery, so he’s entitled to a pass. However, there should be no more wasted time against no-hopers. Nine years in and having a competitive record comparable to Anthony Joshua is not a good look. The alleged plan of unifying with WBO titlist Joseph Parker and then against the winner of Klitschko-Joshua needs to be executed with no excuses.
Photo Credit: Ryan Hafey/Premier Boxing Champions
Jarrett Hurd proved his resiliency by weathering an early deficit to break down Tony Harrison and score an emphatic ninth-round stoppage to win the vacant IBF super welterweight title.
Harrison did well in the first half of the contest by exploiting Hurd’s modified crouch and crab stance. Hurd’s lead left was crossed over his body, allowing the faster Harrison to land first in exchanges with his jab and later counter rights. Hurd weathered the storm and continued being the aggressor Eventually, Hurd began to get inside and land short hooks.
The tide noticeably turned at the end of the fifth when Hurd wobbled Harrison with a right uppercut. Afterward, Harrison’s equilibrium was shaken any time Hurd landed a clean shot. Harrison was nearly dropped in the seventh and eighth stanzas for trying to exchange and finally tasted in the canvas in the ninth from a counter right hook. Harrison beat the count but spit out his mouthpiece, prompting the referee to call off the bout.
Going in, a lot of pundits had this as an even fight. From my viewpoint, I heavily favored Hurd due to continued questions I have about Harrison’s durability. If an opponent can take his power and apply pressure, Harrison seems to fall apart despite his obvious talent. Harrison is still only 26, but I believe he’s reached his ceiling.
