The World This Week by Oliver Fennell Sep 17th 2007

Oliver Fennell sums up the international action of interest. Results with relevance to British boxing are in bold. We will not reveal The Contender results out of respect for those who wish to watch the series without knowing what happened. September 7 Japanese prospect Takashi Uchiyama earned a sensational result, stopping grizzled Aussie contender Nedal Hussein in eight rounds in Tokyo. Super-featherweight Uchiyama was having just his eighth pro contest and got a better result against Hussein than the likes of Manny Pacquaio (10 rounds), Oscar Larios (pts) and Scott Harrison (pts) had managed. Hussein is well know to British fans. As well as losing to Harrison, he has beaten Brian Carr and Delroy Pryce. After 48 fights, though, the man known as “Skinny” may have reached the end of the road. Meanwhile Uchiyama, who retained his OPBF 130lb belt, certainly looks one to keep an eye on. September 14 Humberto Soto warmed up for a November challenge for Joan Guzman's WBO super-featherweight crown by stopping fellow Mexican Ismael Gonzalez in three rounds in Los Mochis, Mexico. Soto was originally due to fight Manny Pacquaio, who chose to rematch Marco Antonio Barrera instead. Guzman – and his world title – provides a more-than acceptable alternative. Danish cruiserweight Johnny Jensen earned a shot at Enzo Maccarinelli's belt on the big Cardiff bill on November 3 by defeating former world light-heavyweight champion Lou Del Valle on points over 12. Beating Del Valle was the prerequisite for Jensen's challenge as, with the dubious exception of a shopworn Uriah Grant, he had never before beaten a name of international repute. Del Valle is a tad long in the tooth, too, but his is a name which looks good on anybody's record and gives Jensen a bit of currency going in to the Maccarinelli showdown. For the record, Jensen picked up the WBA Intercontinental strap after this clash in Horsens, Denmark. On the undercard, Kenyan Evans Ashira – who took Joe Calzaghe and Howard Eastman the distance – was impressive in knocking out Canadian Ian McKillop in just two rounds for the IBA light-middlweight belt. Whatever happened to Sirimongkol Singwancha's title shot? The Thai veteran impressively stopped American Michael Clark in Las Vegas in 2005 – a rare Stateside victory for a Far Eastern fighter – in what was a WBC lightweight eliminator, but the championship opportunity that should have come with the victory never materialised. It's now 28 months down the line and Singwancha has gone unbeaten in a further nine bouts. The latest victory was a marking-time affair against compatriot Kaennakorn Bangbuathong, who he stopped in four rounds in Rachaburi. Singwancha is a former bantamweight and super-featherweight WBC champion, too, so you would expect the sanctioning body, which is usually loyal to its ex-champs – see Vitali Klitschko and Erik Morales for examples of them being overly-so – to help push his claim along. Lightweight Aldo Rios, who has lost to Ricky Hatton and beaten Jason Cook in Britain, defended his South American championship with a decision over compatriot Diego Martin Alzugaray in Nequen, Argentina. Fading former contender Shannon Taylor of Australia trudged on but suffered another blemish to his record – and face – when cut by an accidental headbutt from Sonni Michael Angelo in Sydney. The fight was called a technical draw when Taylor could not continue less than two minutes into the contest, and there will be a rematch on December 14. The contest was for the vacant WBF middleweight title, meaning Taylor has now failed in five world title attempts, from the most prestigious WBC to the lowly-regarded likes of the IBO and WBF. Among those defeats is a 2001 setback against our own Richard Williams, and Taylor has also been in with Shane Mosley. A man who was once the scourge of British rings has returned to action after an 11-year break, at the age of 46. Those who followed British boxing in the late 80s and early 90s will remember Canada's Donovan Boucher racking up victories against Gary Jacobs, Kirkland Laing, Mickey Hughes and Robert Wright. The rot was stopped by Eamonn Loughran with a surprise KO3 in 1992. In typical boxing fashion, this defeat changed Boucher from an avoided dangerman into a world title contender, and he unsuccessfully challenged Crisanto Espana for the WBA welterweight belt in Manchester the following year. What he hopes to achieve now, at such an advanced age and with so much rust, is unclear, but the comeback began with an eight-round points success over journeyman Martin Desjardins at middleweight in Montreal. September 15 German contenders Juergen Braehmer and Mario Veit renewed their rivalry, with Braehmer getting revenge for a May 2006 setback against Veit. This time Braehmer scored a resounding fourth-round knockout over a man who has twice been in with Joe Calzaghe. This establishes Braehmer as a major contender at super-middleweight. On the Rostock, Germany, undercard, French superstar Brahim Asloum returned from a failed second attempt at a world title by knocking out flyweight trialhorse Wellington Vicente of Brazil in nine rounds. Heavyweight Ray Mercer proved the last thing you lose is your punch by blasting out home fighter Mikael Lindblad in the first round of their meeting in Karlstad, Sweden. Mercer, 46, hadn't been in a boxing ring since folding against Shannon Briggs two years ago, and had looked terrible in a recent MMA performance. He was supposed to be big-name cannon-fodder for Lindblad, but the old-stager pulled the trigger one more time. He won't return to the days when he held the WBO title and rumbled with Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, but this result shows a victory over him cannot be taken for granted even now. Another former champion enjoyed less success, as Robert Daniels, who held the WBA cruiserweight distinction an age ago, was outpointed for a second time by Swedish prospect Aldo Colliander in a heavyweight six. Finally, Allan Vester outpointed Gotthard Hinteregger over four rounds in a match which has significance on the European welterweight scene. Vester lost to Eamonn Magee in 2005, while Hinteregger engaged in a fondly-remembered trilogy with Jozsef Matolcsi, two instalments of which took place in Britain. Riddick Bowe was also supposed to appear on this show, but pulled out for the umpteenth time. His comeback is surely dead in the water. September 16 Edgar Sosa of Mexico retained his WBC light-flyweight belt for the second time by stopping compatriot Lorenzo Trejo in nine rounds in Las Vegas. In the chief support, popular little man Jorge Arce took the first step on his trail back to the world championship by stopping fellow Mexican Tomas Rojas in six rounds. Super-fly Arce is looking for a rematch with Christian Mijares, who upset him last time out. Finally, Jorge Paex Jr, son of the 80s “Clown Prince” contender of the same name, outpointed Alain Hernandez over six at light-welterweight. Former world champion Yo-Sam Choi outpointed Thai Terdkiat Jandaeng for the vacant WBO Intercontinental flyweight throne in Seoul. Choi held the WBC light-flyweight title from 1999 to 2002, when he was dethroned by Jorge Arce.

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