Scorecard: Francisco Vargas-Orlando Salido clear leader for fight of the year
— -- A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Carson, Calif.
Francisco Vargas D12 Orlando Salido
retains a junior lightweight title
Scores: 115-113 Vargas, 114-114 (twice)
Records: Vargas (23-0-2, 17 KOs); Salido (42-13-4, 29 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Making great fights is not rocket science. Matching Vargas, who won the 2015 fight of the year, with Salido, who has been in at least half a dozen wild fight of the year candidates, and then putting the fight at the StubHub Center, with its reputation as "the war zone" because of all the great fights that have taken place there, was a no-brainer. And guess what? They more than lived up to the lofty expectations by putting on the clear leader for 2016 fight of the year honors. It was a raging action fight.
Fighting less than 24 hours after the death of the great Muhammad Ali -- himself no stranger to all-time great fights -- Vargas and Salido, both hard-charging Mexican warriors, honored his legacy after a moving pre-fight tribute to the "The Greatest."
It was an absolutely fantastic fight from start to finish and left the crowd of 7,378 in jubilation. They all got what they came for because every round was exciting and it was close all the way as they went after each other with abandon. Both guys took and gave tremendous punches. Both were rocked. Both bled. Even when Vargas tried to box for a bit in the middle of the fight, he dispensed with that strategy quickly and went back to war, saying after the fight that is just who he is and how he preferred to fight.
If ever there was a draw that was perfectly legitimate, this was it, although that is like a win for Vargas, 31, a 2008 Olympian, because he retained his 130-pound title. He was making his first defense since taking the belt from Takashi Miura (who was ringside) by incredible ninth-round comeback in the 2015 fight of the year in November.
The CompuBox punch statistics illustrated just how close the fight was as Vargas landed 386 of 1,184 punches (33 percent) and Salido connected on 328 of 939 blows (35 percent). As for entertainment value, this was no jabbing contest. They combined to land 714 combined punches, 615 of which were power shots, which is second all-time on the CompuBox list for junior lightweights (just three fewer than the record 618 combined power shots landed by Jesus Chavez and Juan Arias in Chavez's 12-round decision win in 2001).
Vargas and Salido also combined to throw a CompuBox junior lightweight record 1,593 power punches (a combined 132.8 per round). The junior lightweight average is only 71.6. They shattered the previous record set by Chavez and Carlos Hernandez (1,475 combined power punches thrown) by 118 punches.
Already a former two-time featherweight titleholder, Salido, 35, was bidding to win a junior lightweight belt for the second time and it certainly would hot have been a robbery had he gotten the close call. But he didn't and dropped to 0-1-2 in his past three bouts, all of which could have gone either way and were terrific fights, including his loss and draw to Roman "Rocky" Martinez last year.
In the third round, Vargas suffered a small cut over his right eye. By the end of the fight he had terrible cuts around both eyes, although he blamed part of that on head-butting from Salido, who sure does know how to use his head as a weapon just the right way so as not to get penalized by the referee. The third round was one of the best rounds of the fight, which was filled with round of the year candidates. Take your pick: the third, fourth, fifth, 10th or 12th? There are probably a couple of others as well.
A moment after the bell rang to begin the 12th round, referee Raul Caiz Sr. called timeout to have the ringside doctor take a look at Vargas' cuts ,but he was allowed to continue, thankfully, and they battled it out toe to toe until the final bell in as good of a fight as boxing has seen in years. As soon as the fight was over, there was talk of a rematch, although only after both fighters take a good rest from this incredible battle.
Abraham Lopez W10 Julian Ramirez
Featherweight
Scores: 98-92, 97-93 (twice)
Records: Lopez (21-0-1, 15 KOs); Ramirez (16-1, 8 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Lopez, 28, of La Puente, California, and Ramirez, a 23-year-old southpaw from East Los Angeles, both had fashioned unbeaten records, but Golden Boy promoter Oscar De La Hoya knew if he wanted to get them on HBO, they were going to have to be in a real fight. So he matched his two prospects with each other to see who would take a step forward.
In an exciting fight, Lopez came away with a head-scratching decision win, one that HBO's unofficial judge Harold Lederman and most ringside observers had Ramirez, the nephew of late junior lightweight world champion Genaro Hernandez, winning.
But both fighters showed enough to be considered for bigger opportunities. They had the crowd cheering with their nonstop punching. They clashed heads in the sixth round, which left Ramirez, who was being trained for the first time by former bantamweight world titleholder Wayne McCullough, with a nasty cut over his right eye.
Ramirez probably looked like the winner to many because he had the edge in punches thrown, punches landed and connect percentage. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Ramirez landed 241 of 665 blows (36 percent) and Lopez connected with 213 of 618 (35 percent).
Saturday at Liverpool, England
Liam Smith KO2 Pedrag Radosevic
Retains a junior middleweight title
Records: Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs); Radosevic (30-2, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Smith, 27, won a vacant title against John Thompson in October and has now made two soft-touch title defenses, including this one in his hometown. The only other time Radosevic, 31, of Montenegro, faced a decent opponent was in July 2013 and he got knocked out at middleweight by former titleholder Felix Sturm.
Radosevic posed little resistance and showed no particular skills as Smith blew him out. In the second round, Smith -- one of four fighting brothers that also includes super middleweight contender Callum, junior lightweight contender Stephen and former two-time super middleweight title challenger Paul -- dropped Radosevic with a brutal left hook to the body and referee Steve Gray counted him out at 1 minute, 34 seconds second.
"I knew the first body shot hurt him so I went for him a little bit," Smith said. "I knew I'd get a reaction as soon as I did it again. It was a good performance and a good stoppage. Everyone is seeing the names that are getting thrown at me. If I was offered one of those fights I'd take it. I was massively up for this fight, as I knew what a win would mean. Retaining a world title in my own city was a special experience."
Smith, who has won eight fights in a row by knockout, is one of the opponents with an outside chance to land a September fight against lineal middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, who appears unlikely to face unified titleholder Gennady Golovkin in the match that looms as the biggest in boxing.
Also on the card, former junior bantamweight world titleholder Zolani Tete (24-3, 20 KOs), a 28-year-old southpaw from South Africa, knocked out Victor Ruiz (21-6, 15 KOs), 25, of Mexico, at 50 seconds of the seventh round.
Saturday at Montreal
Artur Beterbiev TKO4 Ezequiel Maderna
Light heavyweight
Records: Beterbiev (10-0, 10 KOs); Maderna (23-3, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: If anyone was concerned that Beterbiev, a crushing puncher, might not be the same after a right shoulder injury and subsequent surgery that kept him out of the ring for a year, they shouldn't be. The 31-year-old Beterbiev, a two-time Russian Olympian now living in Montreal, was put on the fast track as soon as he turned pro and has already racked up notable knockout wins against former world titleholders Tavoris Cloud and Gabriel Campillo. He was scheduled to fight in a world title eliminator (with a shot at Sergey Kovalev, who he had beaten as an amateur) in November but suffered the shoulder injury.
Returning for the ring for his first fight in 51 weeks -- and seven months after his surgery -- Beterbiev did not look as though he missed a beat, although he was not matched particularly tough in the main event of the return of Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN for the first of seven cards through Aug. 12.
The 29-year-old Maderna, a 2008 Olympian from Argentina, who was moving up in weight from super middleweight and coming off a 13-month layoff, provided little competition in this mismatch. Beterbiev turned up the heat in the third round as he dropped Maderna twice, both times with powerful right hands. After the second knockdown Maderna spit out his mouthpiece, apparently to gain time to recover. He also did it after the first knockdown and referee Marlon Wright was having none of it and penalized him one point after doing it for the second time.
Early in the fourth round Beterbiev dropped Maderna again with a right hand. And then again with another right hand, after which his corner threw in the towel at Maderna's encouragement, and Wright waved off the bout at 54 seconds. Maderna is undefeated when fighting in Argentina and now 0-3 outside of his country.
"I am really satisfied by my performance," Beterbiev. "I want to thank my team for their patience during my inactivity."
Said Marc Ramsay, Beterbiev's trainer: "My guy did really well after an absence of a year. He is very special. In a short or medium period of time, we want to fight in a world championship."
Promoter Yvon Michel said he will plan two more fights for Beterbiev this year, in September and December, in the hopes of getting him into a mandatory position for a shot against Kovalev.
Bryant Perrella TKO2 David Grayton
Welterweight
Records: Perrella (14-0, 13 KOs); Grayton (14-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In a fight between southpaw prospects, Perrella, 27, of Fort Meyers, Florida, took out Grayton, 28, of Washington, D.C., in short order. With about 75 seconds left in the second round, Perrella landed a right hand to the head that bent Grayton over and forced him to touch both of gloves to the mat to steady himself, resulting in a knockdown. Perrella took it to Grayton after the knockdown, rocking him repeatedly and bashing him around the ring. Finally, he unloaded several shots with both hands, including a really harsh left hand to the chin, and Grayton was an unsteady mess until referee Michael Griffin jumped in to call off the fight at 2 minutes, 19 seconds, just as Grayton was falling to the mat.
"He came in real tough, a tough competitor," Perrella said. "I was the best man tonight. I caught him with some really hard shots, dazed him. I took my time, I listened to what my team said and got him out of there. This is tremendous. This is what we've been wanting for a while -- to fight another undefeated prospect and get the recognition we feel we deserve. The welterweight division is filled with lions, tigers and bears, but I'm Tarzan, baby. I'm the king of this jungle. I'm ready for whatever."
Friday at Los Angles
Ronny Rios TKO2 Efrain Esquivias
Featherweight
Records: Rios (26-1, 11 KOs); Esquivias (17-5-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In the headline bout of Golden Boy's "LA Fight Club" series, Rios, 26, of Santa Ana, California, made quick work of Esquivias, 32, of Gardena, California, who lost his third fight in a row and was fighting for the first time in 13 months.
Rios, who won his third fight in a row, was coming off a strong effort in a 10-round decision win against Jayson Velez in November on the Canelo Alvarez-Miguel Cotto undercard. He wasted no time against Esquivias, dropping him against the ropes with a right hand with 25 seconds left in the first round. In the second round, Rios, more aggressive than usual, continued to go after Esquivias. He laid several unanswered punches on him and had him hurt and defenseless when referee Raul Caiz Jr. jumped in to stop the fight at 37 seconds. Rios looked very good, albeit against a lesser opponent.
"I knew Esquivias from my amateur days, and I remember him being a tough fighter," Rios said. "I know that I trained harder, and prepared for this fight as if I would have prepared for a championship fight. This is just another step in the ladder to get my shot at a world title."
Friday at Hollywood, Fla.
Rances Barthelemy W12 Mickey Bey
Retains a lightweight title
Scores: 117-110, 116-111 Barthelemy, 117-110
Records: Barthelemy (25-0, 13 KOs); Bey (22-2-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In December, Barthelemy, a former junior lightweight world titleholder, outpointed Russia's Denis Shafikov to win a vacant lightweight belt and made his first defense against Bey, who had been stripped of the same title for not facing his mandatory challenger --- Shafikov.
So Bey, 32, a Cleveland native fighting out of Las Vegas and trained by Floyd Mayweather Sr., was amped up to reclaim his old belt against Barthelemy, 29, the Las Vegas-based Cuban defector, in the main event of a Spike-televised Premier Boxing Champions card.
With Floyd Mayweather Jr. watching at ringside, Bey did not fight like he was that excited and this was not a very entertaining fight. That said, Barthelemy won easily. Although it was officially a split decision, the scorecard turned in by Hilton Whitaker III in favor of Bey was a complete joke. It was not Whitaker's first absurd scorecard. He was one of the judges suspended by the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board for his incomprehensible scorecard favoring Paul Williams over Erislandy Lara in a 2011 fight in Atlantic City.
Bad scorecard aside, Barthelemy, quicker and slicker, won with relative ease. Bey was credited with a knockdown in the second round, but only because referee Samuel Burgos blew the call. No punch connected, but Barthelemy went down because of a head-butt and the contact he made with Bey's shoulder. If was the first time Barthelemy has had a knockdown scored against him in his career, but it was an illegitimate one.
"I really don't remember exactly what happened, but I felt it was more of a slip than anything," Barthelemy said of the so-called knockdown. "I was a little off balance and we butted heads so at that point, that's when I went down. But that's OK. I don't mind that they counted it. It was the first time in my entire career, both amateurs and professionals, that I hit the canvas in any way. It was just a little surprising, but after that I knew I had to come out strong and put pressure on him because I knew the judges might hold that against me. My mentality originally was to outbox him, but I had to change my plans and start putting pressure on him."
Next up, Barthelemy is going to have to make a mandatory defense against Richard Commey (24-0, 22 KOs), the England-based Ghana native, who was ringside to scout his future opponent.