The World This Week by Oliver Fennell Dec 19th 2007

Oliver Fennell sums up the international action of interest. Results with relevance to British boxing are in bold. December 11 – Miami, Florida, USA Undefeated heavyweight Malik Scott improved to 30-0 but continued to bore as he whitewashed Damian Norris over 10 rounds. Scott has now gone the distance in each of his previous 11 contests. He is undeniably a fine talent, but his lack of urgency is box office and television poison. December 14 – Rome, Italy Johnny Jensen of Denmark claimed the European cruiserweight title with a surprising second-round stoppage of Vincenzo Cantatore. The name of the victor was not the surprise so much as the speed of the win. Jensen, though undefeated, is not considered much of a puncher and had never boxed at this level before. This could be a breakthrough for the 23-0 Dane, as it was a fight with ramifications on the world stage as well. Certainly Jensen will have greater bargaining power if he is again offered a fight with Enzo Maccarinelli, to whom he was linked in November. Cantatore is known in Britain too, having lost to Johnny Nelson two years ago, in what would be Nelson's final bout. December 14 – Chihuahua, Mexico Veteran Genaro Garcia unanimously outpointed prospect Miguel Roman to win the WBC Fecarbox super-bantamweight strap. Garcia scored his first win since back-to-back world title defeats at bantamweight in the past 13 months. December 14 – Cicero, Illinois, USA The first man to floor Naseem Hamed, Daniel Alicea, is still going, but may have been knocked out of contention by being stopped in three rounds by Miguel Angel Huerta, who is competent but no world-beater. Alicea, from Puerto Rico, decked Hamed in the first round of their clash way back in 1996 but was stopped in the following round. December 14 – Cordoba, Argentina In a clash of Argentinean heavyweight triers familiar to British fans, old Fabio Moli defeated Lisandro Diaz via fifth-round stoppage. Diaz, who lost to Audley Harrison in 2003, surrendered the national championship with this defeat. Moli was stopped by Matt Skelton in 2005. December 15, Cancun, Mexico In a double-header festival of big hitters, Edwin Valero destroyed Zaid Zavelata in three rounds to retain his WBA super-featherweight championship, and Jorge Linares knocked out Gamaliel Diaz in eight in the opening defence of his WBC featherweight reign. The undercard saw popular veteran Guty Espadas Jr land a KO 4 over novice featherweight Eduardp Robledo. A younger “son of the champ” – Wilfredo Vasquez Jr – was less successful, going to an eight-round draw against featherweight trialhorse Jorge Cadenas. December 15, Guadalajara, Mexico IBF light-flyweight champion Ulises Solis retained for a seventh time, stopping Filipino challenger Bert Batawang in the ninth round. In the chief support, Solis' compatriot Fernando Beltran Jr stopped Panamanian visitor Jose Arboleda in 10 rounds for the right to fight for IBF super-bantamweight honours. The belt is held by Steve Molitor, who defends against Ricardo Castillo next month. December 15, Rzeszow, Poland Former IBF cruiserweight champion Krzysztof Wlodarczyk stopped Ghanaian journeyman Aloryi Moyoyo Mensah in five rounds. It was Wlodarczyk's second victory since losing the belt to Steve Cunningham in May. He could well reign again, as he has the perfect combination of youth and experience. His pro record is an extensive 39-2, but Wlodarczyk is still only 26 years old. December 15, Dublin, Ireland Irish star-in-the-making Andy Lee impressed in his second home appearance – the rest of his career being conducted in the USA – and took the national super-middleweight title with a sixth-round retirement over decent fellow-prospect Jason McKay. December 15, Hinckley, Minnesota, USA Ageing ex-champ Carl Daniels snapped a seven-fight losing streak by stopping similarly-fading Fred Moore in the sixth round. Moore, 40, was himself coming in on the back of a four-fight dry patch, making this something of a “loser leaves town” match. Daniels, 37, was once a WBA light-middleweight titlist, winning and losing the belt in 1995, and he has fought modern legends Terry Norris and Bernard Hopkins. December 15, Perth, Australia In the last world title action of the year, long-time contender Danny Green finally landed a major championship, pounding out a wide, unanimous decision over defending WBA light-heavyweight king Stipe Drews of Croatia. Green has long been touted as title material, but has fallen short at the final hurdle before on several occasions, making this victory all the sweeter for him and his legion of fans. It was Drews' first defence. Note: Due to reduced activity over the festive period, this will be my final column of 2007. The World This Week will be back early next year.

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