Scorecard: Danny Garcia stops Paulie Malignaggi, becomes welterweight threat

ByDAN RAFAEL
August 3, 2015, 2:22 PM

— -- A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:

Sunday at Winter Park, Fla.

Juan Carlos Payano W12 Rau'shee Warren
Retains a bantamweight title
Scores: 113-111 (twice) Payano, 115-109 Warren
Records: Payano (17-0, 8 KOs); Warren (13-1, 4 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Payano, 31, of the Dominican Republic, was a two-time Olympian (2004 and 2008) and made the first defense of his title against fellow southpaw Warren, 28, of Cincinnati, the only three-time U.S. Olympic boxer (2004, 2008 and 2012). As amateurs, they met with Warren winning a decision. It went the other way in their pro fight -- a grueling, hard-fought and exciting fight -- albeit one that featured three point deductions for fouls -- that headlined the first edition of Premier Boxing Champions on Bounce TV.

Warren, who lost in the opening fight of each Olympic tournament and also came up short in his pro world title shot, looked to be the winner in a close fight. He boxed and was precise with his punches while Payano, as expected, pressured him and often threw caution to the wind with his go-for-broke style and often reckless style.

In the third round, referee Frank Santore Jr. docked a point from Payano for hitting Warren behind the head. A low blow in the fourth round floored Payano, but Santore did not take a point from Warren for the infraction.

The fight was very intense. Payano, who won the belt by big upset by six-round technical decision against long-reigning titleholder Anselmo Moreno 11 months ago, was cut over his right eye during the fifth round, they tackled each other in the sixth round and, in a chaotic eighth round, Payano got cut again (this time over the left eye) on an accidental head butt.

In the ninth round, Payano slipped to the canvas and Warren nailed him with a right hand while he was down. Santore could have disqualified him immediately, but elected to instead take away two points from Warren for the intentional, flagrant foul. Then another accidental head butt did more damage to Payano's face, which had at least three cuts and a swollen right eye.

Warren closed strong by landing a right hand for a knockdown in the 12th round, from which Payano immediately - and very acrobatically - sprung to his feet. In the end, the split decision will be questioned by many, but there were a lot of close, hard-to-score rounds. However, it seemed as though Warren did enough to eke it out. He said he wanted a rematch but Payano said he was not interested.

Jorge Cota W10 Yudel Jhonson
Junior middleweight
Scores: 96-91 (twice), 95-92
Records: Cota (25-1, 22 KOs); Jhonson (17-2, 9 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: In an excellent action fight, Cota, 27, of Mexico, announced his arrival on the world scene with a big win in his United States debut against Jhonson, a 34-year-old southpaw and 2004 Cuban Olympic silver medalist who defected and now lives in Miami. Cota and Jhonson started fast, taking turns hurting each other in the first round, and never let up through their hard-hitting fight. But it was Cota, who did not begin boxing until age 20, who got the better of the action. Cota was credited with two official knockdowns in the fight but referee Telis Assimenios, who did not have a good night, missed two others.

In the third round, as Cota and Jhonson were exchanging punches, Cora caught him with a left hand on the chin. Jhonson, who had been coming in, lurched forward and fell over the bottom rope onto the apron but Assimenios surprisingly ruled it a slip. In the sixth round, Assimenios, without previous warning, made a ticky-tack call and docked Jhonson a point for what he called "pushing and punching." It was weird and an uncalled for penalty.

As they continued to pound away at each other, Cota appeared to graze Jhonson across the top of the head with a left hand and Jhonson went down to his knees with 30 seconds left. Assimenios ruled it a knockdown but it could have been a slip.

There was no doubt about the knockdown in the ninth round when Cota landed a clean left hand to Jhonson's head and he put his glove down on the mat to steady himself. Then Assimenios blew another call later in the ninth round when Cota, who was all over Jhonson, landed a sharp right hand that dropped him to all fours with 42 seconds left in the round but Assimenios stunningly ruled it a slip. Despite Assimenios' uneven performance, Cota got the decision he deserved in a very good fight. With the win, Cota will move on to face John Jackson, who won the other semifinal of this four-man junior middleweight tournament, on a date to be determined.

John Jackson W10 Dennis Laurente
Junior middleweight
Scores: 100-89 (three times)
Records: Jackson (20-2, 15 KOs); Laurente (49-6, 30 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Jackson, 26, of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, is one of the fighting sons of former middleweight and junior middleweight titleholder Julian Jackson. Jackson won his second fight in a row since suffering a massive fifth-round knockout 14 months ago against Andy Lee, who rallied in that fight and went on to win a middleweight world title. He had no such issues against Laurente, 38, of the Philippines, who saw a six-fight winning streak come to an end. Taller, longer, quicker and more skillful, Jackson dominated Laurente, whose game plan consisted of nothing more than trying to rush Jackson and hope to get lucky with a big punch. Laurente tried to do that in the third round and got caught with a right hand that put him on the canvas for the only knockdown of the fight.

It was a surprisingly easy victory for Jackson, who advanced to the final (date and site to be determined) of a four-man junior middleweight tournament, where he will take on Mexico's Jorge Cota, who outpointed Yudel Jhonson on the card to win the other semifinal match.