The World This Week by Oliver Fennell Sep 10th 2007

Oliver Fennell sums up the international action of interest. Results with relevance to British boxing are in bold. As Oliver has been on holiday for the past two weeks, this column takes in a fortnight's developments instead of the usual seven days. August 25 Long-reigning strawweight leader Ivan Calderon is now a two-division champion after beating defending WBO light-fly ruler Hugo Cazares in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. Calderon was floored in the eighth but his famed silky skills were enough to carry him to a split decision victory. A cacophonous Dublin Point Arena was shocked into silence as local darling Bernard Dunne had his European super-bantamweight belt ripped away in just 85 seconds by Spaniard Kiko Martinez. The visitor was undefeated though untested, but blasted the champion to the floor three times for a sensational victory. In the chief support, a British title was contested outside the UK for the first time as light-heavyweight monarch Tony Oakey of Portsmouth retained against Belfastman Brian Magee after the two battled to a draw. On the undercard, Irish-Brummie Matthew Macklin was impressive in knocking out veteran Darren Rhodes in four middleweight rounds, and Irish Olympian Andy Lee made his home debut, stopping Belfast middle Ciaran Healy, also in four. Filipino super-featherweight contender Jimrex Jaca barely escaped with his WBO Asia Pacific title intact after a wild brawl with Ryu Miyagi of Japan. Fighting in Manila, Jaca was sent to the canvas twice in the first round before returning the favour once later in the same session. An accidental headclash terminated proceedings in the following round, leading the contest to be declared a technical draw as Jaca bled profusely. The two agreed on an immediate rematch for November 15. Randy Suico, like Jaca a former world title challenger, stopped another Japanese visitor, Koji Samejima, in eight rounds to retain his OPBF lightweight title. The much-maligned Bobby Gunn continued to rebuild from his predictable one-round blow-out by Enzo Maccarinelli four months ago, KOing journeyman Benito Fernandez in two rounds in Springfield, Missouri. Last time out, cruiserweight Gunn beat an opponent without a win to his name, so clearly he is back at the level from which he was so harshly torn that appalling Cardiff night. Even in this era of elderly ex-champs plodding on in middle age, Boone Pultz's comeback is an eye-opener. The former cruiserweight holder, now a heavyweight, outscored Jerry Simpson over six in Ocean City, Maryland, for his second victory since returning to action after an 11-year absence. Pultz is 47, which even today is a good 10 to 15 years older than most boxers. August 31 IBF super-featherweight champion Mzonke Fana retained for the first time by knocking out Javier Osvaldo Alvarez of Argentina in nine rounds in Klerksdrop, South Africa. Alvarez beat Michael Gomez in six rounds two years ago, while Fana has come a long way since beaing outscored by Dean Pithie in 1999. Super veteran Yory Boy Campas reached his century by unanimously outpointing The Contender star Norberto bravo over 10 rounds in Tucson, Arizona. Light middleweight Campas is 36 and once held the IBF world title. In his long career, which was launched 20 years ago, Campas has locked horns with the likes of Jorge Vaca, Felix Trinidad, Jose Luis Lopez, Raul Marquez, Fernando Vargas, Oba Carr, Tony Ayala Jr, Daniel Santos and Oscar De La Hoya. To rack up 100 fights (and counting) against such a high level of opposition and still be a fringe contender is really quite remarkable. Juan Urango bounced back from January's IBF 10st title defeat to Ricky Hatton by stopping Nasser Athumani of Kenya in four rounds in Atlantic City. Russian prospect Sergey Sorokin claimed the best scalp of his career to date by outscoring dangerous veteran Emanuel Augustus in Yugorsk, Russia. At stake was the WBO Asia Pacific light welterweight crown. Augustus is remembered in Britain for dismantling Jon Thaxton in 1998. Veteran Mexican Cesar Soto, who lost a torpid struggle with Naseem Hamed in 1999, split-decisioned compatriot Hector Javier Marquez in Ciudad Juarez. It was a rare success for Soto, now campaigning at lightweight, who is a former world featherweight champion who has won only four of 11 contests since meeting Hamed. The undercard was studded with huge names – Salvador Sanchez, Hector Camacho and Pipino Cuevas all performed… in name only! The Pipino Cuevas in question is the son of the former welterweight champion of the same name. Lightweight Junior went to 12-1 with a TKO2 over Genaro Garcia (NOT the bantamweight contender!). Salvador Sanchez was not making a posthumous comeback – this one is an 8-3 bantamweight who dropped a decision to Eduardo Lazcano for the interim WBC Youth title. Finally, Hector Camacho was neither the champion father nor the contender son from Puerto Rico, but an 0-2 novice light middleweight who was stopped by novice Alfredo Martinez. Brazilian heavyweight champion George Arias retained his belt with a first-round knockout of Renilson dos Santos. Arias was world-ranked a division below and went the distance with Johnny Nelson in a 2001 WBO challenge. September 1 Ricardo Torres denied what looked to be a certain coronation for American hotshot Kendall Holt, as he rallied from a points deficit to stop his WBO light-welterweight challenger in the 11th round. Team Holt later claimed their boxer had been hit in the face with a beer can after scoring a knockdown, changing the complexion of the fight. Two-time WBA strawweight champion Yutaka Niida posted a unanimous decision over Filipino challenger Eriberto Gejon to retain his belt in Tokyo. Victor Oganov's intimidating reputation has been shattered following a ninth-round stoppage defeat against Colombian contender Fulgencio Zuniga in Tacoma, Washington. Russian-Aussie super-middleweight Oganov has entered the fight with a 26-0 (26) record. September 5 Former WBC super-flyweight king Katsushige Kawashima outpointed Indonesian novice Adi Wiguna over 10 rounds in Yokohama. Failed “next great heavyweight” Michael Grant earned the second success of his latest comeback by stopping Detroit's Kevin Montiy in seven rounds in New York. Grant was built up towards the end of the last decade as a shoe-in for world honours, but was spectacularly humbled by Lennox Lewis in 2000 and has never looked the same since. James McGirt Jr, son of modern great Buddy McGirt, outpointed trialhorse Thomas Reid over eight rounds at super-middleweight on the same show. September 7 Zab Judah came back from his entertaining, though unsuccessful, showdown with Miguel Cotto in June, notching a points win over Edwin Vasquez in Biloxi, Mississippi. In 2000, Judah defeated Junior Witter, who was in action across the Atlantic on this same night. Veteran heavyweights Hasim Rahman and David Tua both enjoyed easy wins in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. Rahman stopped shopworn Dickie Ryan in two, while Tua did likewise to mediocre Cerrone Fox. At least Tua is staying busy, having previously fought three weeks earlier. Both men have lost to Lennox Lewis, although Rahman had earlier scored an upset over Britain's greatest heavyweight. Olympian bantamweight Abner Mares gained his first pro title thanks to a seventh-round corner retirement over Isidro Garcia in Tucson, Arizona. Both boxers are Mexican and they were competing for the NABO prize. Scotland's Craig McEwan moved to 7-0 on the undercard, stopping American middleweight Nick Collins in five rounds. All of McEwan's pro contests have taken place in the USA.

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