By Eric Armit
HIGHLIGHTS from the past week of action
Oscar Collazo retained his WBO minimumweight title after unanimously defeating Gerardo Zapata.
Blair Cobbs took the lead from Adrien Broner and the victory went to Michael Hunter and Yuniel Dorticos.
Xander Zayas fought ten rounds for the first time, earning an impressive victory over Patrick Teixeira, while Bruce Carrington and Delante Johnson picked up victories.
Patrice Volny, Osleys Iglesias and Movladdin Biyarslanov scored short-range goals in Montreal.
Callum Walsh destroyed Carlos Ortiz in two rounds.
Jonathan Gonzalez and Atif Oberlton won.
Thomas LaManna won the vacant WBO Gold middleweight title by stopping Juan Abreu.
Who won this week?
Most important: Xander Zayas showed there are some exciting times ahead in his win over Patrick Teixeira.
Most entertaining: Ian Green and Roy Barringer fought a war, so that’s my pick with honorable mentions to Patrice Volny and Steven Butler.
Warrior of the week: Xander Zayas, respectfully referring to Blair Cobbs.
Punch of the week: I delivered a devastating right hook from Osleys Iglesias that finished Evgeny Shvedenko.
Sadness of the week: In his first fight in nearly two years, Blair Cobbs didn’t appear to be a threat to the returning Adrien Broner, but he scored a win. Only doubts about Broner made it slightly sad in a week without much turmoil
Prospect watch: Cuban middleweight Yoenli Napoles, 4-0, four by KO/TKO, has shown impressive power.
Observe the battle card
rose: Don King scheduled a 94-round fight
Red card: Michael Hunter and Cassius Chaney for putting on a fight that would give even heavyweights a bad name.
General observations:
- Michael Hunter should be paid the amount of weight he admitted. Against Cassius Chaney, it was 42 lbs; compared to Alek Ustinov, it is 66 lbs; and Martin Bakole, 43 lbs. The highest payday would have been for the Ignacio Esparza fight where he conceded 101 lbs!
- There is mention of a 5-on-5 fight between Bob Arum and Oscar de la Hoya. I’m not sure whether Saudi Arabia has enough money to arrange that.
- Since Daniel Dubois’ below-the-belt punch controversy with Oleksandr Usyk, most referees have been very careful. Instead of just waving their hands in the general direction of the belt line, they now placed their hands firmly above the line following their instructions so that both the fighter and the referee clearly knew what was a foul punch. They should also make it clear that any punch that lands behind the ear is a foul.
JUNE 8
Xander Zayas stepped up with victory over Patrick Teixeira – New York, USA
An impressive performance from Zayas, who delivered an entertaining and mature performance against the experienced Teixeira. If Teixeira was hoping to use his southpaw jab to work on the front foot, it clearly wouldn’t work.
Teixeira suffered a cut to his left eye in a collision to the head. A frustrated Zayas was looking to end the fight before the final bell, and he went after Teixeira, throwing punches with both hands, but Teixeira made it to the final bell.
Scored 100-90 twice and 99-91 for Zayas. The 21-year-old Puerto Rican dominated a direct opponent in the former WBO interim champion and he showed growing class in both attack and defense. He is No. 5 with the WBO and No. 7 with the WBC and is calling out Erickson Lubin and Josh Kelly, both of whom are ahead of him in the rankings.
Xander Zayas (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
Bruce Carrington dominates De Gracia – New York, USA
Late substitute De Gracia gave Carrington some useful action before succumbing in the eighth round. De Gracia was the aggressor from the start, as Carrington adapted to his opponent’s changes and stymied De Gracia’s attacks with some smart defending behind a high defensive line.
Carrington pursued De Gracia before landing a left hook to the head and then a short right hook that sent him into the ropes, where he hung before sliding to the floor.
He got up early, but Carrington pinned him against the ropes after the count and hit him with hooks and uppercuts until the referee stopped the fight. IBF title challenger Eduardo Ramirez is the only remaining fighter to have stopped De Gracia.
Thomas LaManna cornflakes using Abreu for breakfast – Atlantic City, USA
Thomas LaManna stopped Juan Carlos Abreu in the third round to win the vacant WBA gold belt. LaManna used his longer reach to control the action in the first two rounds. He knocked Abreu down with a headbutt in the third round, then knocked Abreu down two more times, causing the fight to be stopped.
LaManna was stopped at 80 seconds when he challenged Erislandy Lara for the WBA secondary middleweight title in 2021 but has now won eight in a row and is hoping this “Golden” title will get him another title. LaManna joined Jaron Ennis as the second man to defeat Abreu over the distance.
JUNE 7
Blair Cobbs handed Broner another loss – Florida, USA
Cobbs pulled away and passed the slow Broner. Cobbs launched the attack in the second round, coming behind his jab and scoring with rights. He then stepped forward and delivered a shot to the head, causing Broner to fall. Broner climbed up, but the punch broke Broner’s mouth guard and a tooth, and he had to crawl around to retrieve the tooth. The referee slows down the count and then puts Broner’s mouth guard on him.
When the action restarted, Cobbs had Broner against the ropes and threw a lot of punches but didn’t stack them, so there was volume but no power.
The corner told Broner at the start of round nine that he needed a knockdown. He drove home some heavy hooks, keeping Cobbs under pressure, but was too slow to find the punch he needed. Cobbs only danced for most of the tenth and Broner lost his mouth guard again. Broner moved faster than at any other point in the fight but was unable to pin Cobbs down until he landed two right hooks at the bell.
Scores 96-93 twice and 97-91 both went to Cobbs, with 97-91 being correct. The fight is the first for Cobbs, 34, since eliminating Maurice Hooker in August 2022, and he will be hoping this win puts him in line for some top-flight matches.
This was Broner’s first fight in a year and only his third since losing to Manny Pacquiao (see below) in January 2019. He is slow both offensively and defensively, and on paper, Cobbs shouldn’t be a threat, but on this performance, Broner will struggle to make any impact.
Michael Hunter is too strong for poor Cassius Chaney – Florida, USA
Hunter won every round against Chaney in a monstrous heavyweight bout. Hunter found Chaney’s body an easy target for his jabs in the first but didn’t really open up even though Chaney showed no signs of being a threat. Hunter mixed in more punches in the second round, but the slow Chaney never really showed anything. Even though Chaney was 42 lbs heavier, Hunter was still able to tie him to the ropes and land body punches.
Hunter increased the pace at the end, looking for a stoppage, but was unable to put Chaney away and won by scores of 100-90 on all judges’ cards.
Oscar Collazo Survived Tough Times to Outlast Gerardo Zapata – New York, USA
Collazo had a rough moment in the second round but won the round by a large margin. Although Collazo dominated the first two minutes and had no takedowns, one of the judges scored it 10-8 for Zapata.
Zapata had some success with punches to the body in the middle round, but Collazo won the rounds, and it was really just a case of whether Zapata could last the distance. as Collazo was chasing him around the ring, attacking him with sharp combinations. Zapata reached the bell, but Collazo won 119-109 on two cards and 117-110 on the third card.
Collazo is defending his WBO title for the third time. Nicaraguan Zapata played poorly and was unlikely to win the title, and except for a brief moment at the end of the second half, he was eliminated.
Glanton torments Egorov in Moscow – Russia
Brandon Glanton won every round before dropping an exhausted Aleksei Egorov to defeat in the eleventh round. Glanton jabbed well from the start using faster hands to penetrate Egorov’s guard with his jab, then moved under Egorov’s jab to score with hooks to the body. Egorov couldn’t overcome Glanton’s jab and Glanton was busier and quicker. Egorov is too slow to be a distance threat and Glanton is attacking the Russian’s body on the inside with Egorov holding only to block Glanton’s punches.
Glanton sent Egorov around the ring in the eleventh round with hooks and uppercuts. Glanton was driving Egorov along the ropes in lap eleven until a contact caused Glanton to turn away, scratching his forehead.
The fight was stopped but neither fighter was cut and when Glanton again continued to land punches on Egorov, Egorov accordingly knelt down, bowed and shook his head as the referee counted out ten. Glanton, 34, won the vacant WBA International title.
Irish eyes smiling on Callum Walsh – Santa Ynez, USA
Walsh knocked out Carlos Ortiz in two rounds in a clash of southpaws. Walsh got off to the perfect start, defeating Ortiz with a right hook in the first round. Ortiz tried to stand and trade in the second round but was down early in the round.
Walsh is a deadly finisher, and after the count, he unleashed a quick combination of rights to the body and lefts to the head. Ortiz was stunned, and a straight left to the chin sent him to the floor, stopping the fight.
The ninth victory went to the outstanding 23-year-old Irish prospect, who is defending his WBC Continental Americas title. Walsh is a truly dangerous man. He has speed and strength. Ortiz, 39, is untested, having only his fourth fight in nearly five years.
JUNE 6
Vicious Volny defeated Butler in a domestic grudge match – Montreal, Canada
Patrice Volny defeated Steven Butler in nine rounds. Butler continued to weather Volny’s punches but in the ninth round, a series of uppercuts tripped Butler up and the referee stopped the fight in the face of Butler’s strong protests (see below, left , lost to Alimkhanuly).
Iglesias kicks Shvedenko in a scary way – Montreal, Canada
Cuban Iglesias scored a brutal and disturbing KO over Evgeny Shvedenko in the first round. Iglesias was stalking Shvedenko and shook him with a left hook. He then delivered a devastating short right hook to the temple. Shvedenko fell backwards, his body convulsed, his limbs shaking violently in the air.
The referee immediately dismissed the match. Iglesias, 26, is defending his IBO title for the second time and has his tenth victory by KO/TKO. He is a real threat in this division.
US-born Russian Shvedenko, a former WBC International and Russian champion, drew with world-rated Pavel Silyagin in September. He recovered enough to leave the ring on his foot.
