The World This Week by Oliver Fennell Jan 23rd 2008

Oliver Fennell sums up the international action of interest. Results with relevance to British boxing are in bold. January 10, Osaka, Japan Impressive WBC bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa retained his belt for a fifth time, unanimously outscoring European king Simon Maludrotto of Italy. The scores for Hasegawa were wide, showing his class against a man whose quality is known to British fans for wins over Damaen Kelly and Ian Napa. There was less success for Japan in the co-feature, as Nobuto Ikehara was pegged back by WBA bantamweight ruler Wladimir Sidorenko. This fight also ended in a unanimous decision. How about Hasegawa vs Sidorenko in a unification match? January 11, Hollywood, Florida, USA Super-middleweight contenders Edison Miranda and Jean Pascal set up a grudge match by winning separate contests in a double-header. Miranda displayed his power once more by knocking out David Banks in three rounds, while Pascal reminded us of his speedy skills by widely outscoring Omar Pittman over 10. Miranda is the only person to have stopped British veteran Howard Eastman. January 11, Cabazon, California, USA Inaugural Contender series winner Sergio Mora bounced back from the sole blemish on his record – an October draw with Elvin Ayala – by stopping veteran fringe contender Rito Ruvalcaba in six rounds. It was a rare stoppage win – his fifth – for 20-0-1 middleweight Mora, but he remains nowhere nearer the title shot which looked a gimme following his reality TV exploits. January 12, Villa El Chocon, Argentina Lightweight fringe contender Aldo Rios won the Argentinean championship with a repeat 10-round unanimous nod over Diego Martin Alzugaray. The two had fought to a 12-round decision for the South American belt last time out. Rios has lost to Ricky Hatton and beaten Jason Cook in British encounters. January 14, Yokohama, Japan A third world title fight in Japan in four days resulted in ex-champ Katsushige Kawashima fail to recapture a super-flyweight crown, going down on points to regular visitor Alexander Munoz, the WBA titlist. Kawashima held the WBC version from 2004 to 2005 and this was his third subsequent attempt at regaining a belt. Munoz, from Venezuela, has fought in Japan seven times, including in his last three consecutive contests. January 17, Nonthaburi, Thailand One-time WBA bantamweight title challenger Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym stopped Filipino Edgar Gabejan in 11 rounds to retain the PABA 8st 10lb strap he's been busy with recently. Kratingdaenggym picked up the regional belt in his next fight following a world title defeat to Wladimir Sidorenko in July 2006 and has now defended it successfully seven times. January 18, Key West, Florida, USA Power-punching ex-WBA light-welterweight champ Randall Bailey returned from his close loss to Herman Ngoudjo, stopping Anthony Mora in five rounds for the WBC Latino honour. January 19, Dusseldorf, Germany In the first world heavyweight title fight involving a Brit since 2004, Matt Skelton failed in a bid for Ruslan Chagaev's WBA belt, dropping a unanimous decision to the Germany-based Uzbek. Skelton, at 40, was the oldest-ever first-time challenger for a major heavyweight championship, and put in a performance which belied his age and odds as long as 8-1 against him. Still, Chagaev always figured to be too accomplished for him, and this was the case. January 19, New York, New York, USA Roy Jones triumphed against Felix Trinidad in a clash of legends which came a decade late. Fighting at a catchweight of 170lb, Jones floored Trinidad twice en route to a wide unanimous decision. Having been operating as a light-heavyweight in recent years – and having gone as high as heavyweight – Jones always figured to be too big and strong for Trinidad, a former welterweight who'd never been higher than middleweight. Intrigue rested in the possibility of Jones being weight-drained, having not fought below light-heavy since 1996, but he appeared to make the limit easily. He certainly fought as if he did, rejuvenating his career as he did so at the age of 39. He is now talking up a match with the winner of Joe Calzaghe-Bernard Hopkins. Jones also holds a 2002 win over Clinton Woods, while Trinidad defeated Kevin Lueshing in 1997. The undercard was stacked with fighters with name-value to British fans. Chief support saw Andrew Golota come through a wild heavyweight brawl with prospect Mike Mollo. The Pole, who folded in a round against Lennox Lewis in 1997 and has on other occasions quit, been disqualified and stopped early, hung tough against a man 13 years his junior and may have earned another world title opportunity at 40. There was a big upset in the preceding contest, as one-time world light-middleweight titlist Roman Karmazin was knocked out in 10 rounds by Alex Bunema, who for nine rounds had been fulfilling his role as work-out material. But the Congolese exploded into action to force a sudden and shocking end against a man who looked well on his way to another championship opportunity. Karmazin had shown his potential on a 2003 visit to Britain, demolishing David Walker in defence of the European belt he held at the time. Further down the bill, the downfall of DeMarcus Corley continued as he was widely outpointed over 12 by rising star Devon Alexander. Corley lost a vacant WBC light-welterweight shot against Junior Witter in London in 2006. It looked a good win for Witter at the time, but the result has been devalued somewhat as Corley went on to lose his next three contests. Meanwhile Alexander, at only 20 years old and now 14-0 as a pro, looks a fine prospect. He picked up the WBC Continental Americas distinction here. And there were mixed fortunes for two more American opponents of British competitors in world title fights. Ezra Sellers, winner against Carl Thompson and loser to Johnny Nelson, was smashed in two rounds by Emanuel Nwodo of Nigeria. Sellers had been matched with WBO cruiser king Enzo Maccarinelli last year, but the British Boxing Board of Control nixed the match. This result suggests they were right to do so. And finally, Luis Collazo, who gave Ricky Hatton a hard fight two years ago, outscored Edvan Dos Santos Barros of Brazil over 10 welterweight rounds. January 19, Rama, Canada IBF super-bantamweight ruler Steve Molitor successfully negotiated the third defence of his crown, widely outscoring dangerous challenger Ricardo Castillo. Molitor won the vacant title by stopping Michael Hunter in Britain, where he had also impressed against John Mackay and Nicky Booth in previous visits.

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