Cotto Retires Mayorga

Miguel Cotto vs Ricardo Mayorga - WBA Super Welterweight Title

Ricardo Mayorga now needs a job. Well thats what he said in his post fight interview on Showtime after Miguel Cotto stopped him in 12 exciting rounds at the MGM Grand. Mayorga was also man enough to admit that all the acting pre fight was just to sell tickets and that Cotto was the better man who punched very hard.

Regarding Mayorga's retirement , i think its the perfect time as he can only fight in small spurts. This suited Cotto who was able to win most of the rounds with his jab. The Puerto Rican icon also never fell for any of the challengers shenanigans , he stayed calm and picked his shots when needed. On my card i had Cotto winning 5 of the first 6 rounds with only the 2nd being close enough to merit Mayorga with a share. Cotto was landing the better punches and was more frequent with them.

The challengers best round was the 7th as for once he was able to maintian a constant pace and push Cotto back. I also gave the challenger the 8th and 9th purely on workrate but it was to be Mayorga's last stand as Cotto regained his composure and began to control the fight again in the 10th and the 11th.

Cotto fought at a un-hurried pace , i actually think he looked slow in the fight , not punch wise but overall movement. The 154lb limit seems to be one weight too many?? but he is a titlelist and there are big fights out there for him to take namely Sergio Martinez or Saul Alvarez.

What happened in the 12th remains a wee bit of a mystery because when Cotto had floored Mayorga the challenger immediately clutched his left hand. Replys showed there was minimum contact with the hand. Mayorga continued though for about 20-30 seconds but then asked the ref to stop the fight as he was in too much pain not by the punch but by the pain in his hand.

It certainly was a weird ending to a weird type of fighter that is Mayorga.

Below as always is my scorecard along with the boxing fans forums scores , TV , written press and boxing websites scoreson the fight.

Round 1.....Cotto 10-9
Round 2.....Draw 10-10
Round 3.....Cotto 10-9
Round 4.....Cotto 10-9
Round 5.....Cotto 10-9
Round 6.....Cotto 10-9
Round 7.....Mayorga 10-9
Round 8.....Mayorga 10-9
Round 9.....Mayorga 10-9
Round 10...Cotto 10-9
Round 11...Cotto 10-9

TOTAL.....107-103.... MIGUEL COTTO

MIGUEL COTTO WINS BY 12TH ROUND TKO

Judges Scores : Duane Ford...107-102.....Cotto
                        Jerry Roth......107-102.....Cotto
                        Chris Wilson..107-102.....Cotto


TV , Fans Forums , Written Press and Boxing Websites Scores

Al Bernstein (showtime)........108-101 Cotto
Antonio Tarver (showtime)...108-101 Cotto

Diego Martinez (showtime press).......108-101 Cotto
Kieran Mulvaney (showtime press)....108-101 Cotto
Lance Pugmire (showtime press)........107-102 Cotto

Graham Houston (boxingmonthly)......108-101 Cotto

LA Times......107-102 Cotto

Kevin Iole (yahoo)..........107-102 Cotto
Steve Cofield (yahoo).....108-101 Cotto

Dan Ambrose (boxingnews24.com).....107-102 Cotto

Boxrec Forum....8-0 in favor of Cotto...cards...106-103 , 119-110

Budweiser Forum...2-0 in favor of Cotto but left no cards

Livefight.com.....11-0 in favor of Cotto....card...107-102

Boxingscene Forum....5-0 in favor of Cotto...card...108-101

Eastsideboxing Forum....14-0 in favor of Cotto...cards...108-101 x 9 , 106-103 x2
................................................................................107-102 x 3 , 109-100

Unification Beckons For Burns

Ricky Burns vs Joseph Laryea - WBO Super Featherweight Title

Two Voluntary defences out of the way , One big unification fight to come. That was the story of Saturday Nights SKY Sports main event where Ricky Burns made his 2nd successful title defence against Joseph Laryea. Fighting again at the Braehead Arena in Glasgow although not as big a crowd due to poor pricing (£50 was the lowest price for a ticket) Burns displayed the attributes that took him to that shock title win over Roman Martinez last September by totally outworking his Ghanaian challenger making his corner throw in the towel before the start of the 8th round.

Before the fight Laryea had made all the the threatening noises by mimicking that he was going to break Burns neck but in all honesty after 5 rounds Laryea was beginning to wilt as the Scottish champion began to dominate the fight.

The first few rounds were close with the taller Laryea being able to out jab Ricky but the champion still was winning the rounds due to the combination punching and body work. Round 3 was the first clear round for the champion as he began to work off his jab and land much more of those slashing right hands. The 4th many felt including the SKY commentators that Laryea had won the round. Not on my card though as i still felt that Burns was landing the cleaner blows.

Laryea's title challenge began to wilt late in the 5th as he began to slow down due to the high volume of punches still being thrown by the champion. The 6th was a dominating round for Burns as he stepped up the pace again , jab , right hand , left hook to the body and a left hook up top slammed into Laryea time after time. It was the same story in the 7th where Burns was now landing at will and it was clear that Laryea didn't have the same energy as in the first 4 rounds. I feel that it was just a matter of time before Laryea was totally gassed and Burns would have been announced the winner but the Ghanaians corner pulled their man out before the 8th round citing a broken right knuckle??.

The job was done and now Ricky can now look forward to a big summer showdown vs IBF Champion Mozonke Fana.

Below as always is my scorecard along with the fans forums scores , TV , written press and boxing websites scores on the fight.

Round 1....Burns 10-9
Round 2....Burns 10-9
Round 3....Burns 10-9
Round 4....Burns 10-9
Round 5....Burns 10-9
Round 6....Burns 10-9
Round 7....Burns 10-9

TOTAL....70-63 RICKY BURNS

RICKY BURNS WINS BY RTD END OF 7


TV , Fans Forums , Written Press and Boxing Sites Scores

Billy Nelson - Burns Trainer.....Burns 70-64


Glen McCrory (sky).....69-64 Burns
John Rawling (sky).......69-64 Burns
Jim Watt (sky)..............69-64 Burns
Barry McGuigan (sky)..70-64 Burns
Bob Mee (sky).............69-64 Burns

Graham Houston (boxmonthly)....69-64 Burns

Ian McNeily (boxrec)...69-65 Burns

Boxrec Fans Forum.....9-0 in favor of Burns...cards...70-63 x 4 , 70-64 , 69-64

Eastsideboxing Fans....12-0 in favor of Burns...cards...69-64 x 4 , 70-63 x 2 , 70-64

Budweiser Fans Forum..2-0 in favor of Burns...cards...69-65 , 70-63 (thebud)

Saddoboxing Forum.....5-0 in favor of Burns...card...70-63

Boxingscene Forum....6-0 in favor of Burns but there were no cards

Martin Hannan (the Scotsman paper)....70-63 Burns

Dan Risk (boxingnews24.com)......69-(61)??? Burns

Worldboxing.net.....69-64 Burns

Tom Gray (secondsout.com).....70-63 Burns

A Mighty Effort

Saul Alvarez vs Matthew Hatton - Vacant WBC Light Middleweight Title

The headline says "a mighty effort" well they are not my words but the words of legendary fighter Roy Jones Jnr who was mentioning on HBO the effort displayed by Matthew Hatton who never gave up in his brave title challenge against 20 year old Mexican superstar Saul Alvarez.

On reflection of the scoring , this fight was all one way ( the 3 judges scored 119-108) but Hatton was competitive although thoroughly out gunned by Alvarez. The wonderkid won this fight handily but a lot more questions will now be asked as the new champion failed to knock out Hatton who is really a welterweight.

Everybody expected this fight to be a knockout for Alvarez probably after Hatton putting up some minor resistance but as the fight went on Alvarez began to get a little bit annoyed that he couldn't land that KO punch. The Mexican really does dig his punches in , his stand in front of you style will no doubt land him in exciting fights , add this to that he is quite easy to hit and you can see why he is being touted as the next big star. Against Hatton whenever Alvarez wanted he upped the pace and battered the brave Brit around the ring.

This was an easy fight to judge because of the way Alvarez was picking his punches , the difference in power though was telling as Hattons punches did no damage whilst Alvarez repeatably hurt Hatton especially to the body. Many gave Alvaez every round although he did lose a point for hitting on the break in the 7th.

All in all it was a decent performance by Alvarez but many who were watching i feel were expecting more especially the KO. Hatton though will walk away from this with huge credit and possible another shot on HBO , how about Hatton vs James Kirkland??? Kirkland returned on the undercard and won by a knockout.

Below as always is my scorecard along with the boxing fans forums scores , written press , TV guys and boxing websites scores on the fight.

Round 1.....Alvarez 10-9
Round 2.....Alvarez 10-9
Round 3.....Alvarez 10-9
Round 4.....Alvarez 10-9
Round 5.....Alvarez 10-9
Round 6.....Alvarez 10-9
Round 7.....Draw 9-9........Alvarez deducted 1 point for hitting after call of break
Round 8.....Draw 10-10
Round 9.....Alvarez 10-9
Round 10...Alvarez 10-9
Round 11...Alvarez 10-9
Round 12...Alvarez 10-9

TOTAL......119-109 SAUL ALVAREZ

Judges Scorecards : Jack Reese..... 119-108 Alvarez
                               Raul Caiz Snr...119-109 Alvarez
                               Joel Scobie.......119-109 Alvarez

SAUL ALVAREZ WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

TV , Fans Forums , Written Press and Boxing Websites Scores


Harold Lederman (HBO).......119-108 Alvarez

Jim Watt (SKY)......118-110 Alvarez

Dan Rafael (ESPN).....119-108 Alvarez

Graham Houston (Boxing Monthly)....119-108 Alvarez

Budweiser Forum....3-0 in favor of Alvarez...cards...119-109 , 118-109 for Alvarez

Boxing Asylum Forum....3-2 in favor of Alvarez...cards...114-113 , 115-113 Hatton?

Eastsideboxing Forum...22-0 in favor of Alvarez...cards...119-108 x3 , 119-109 , 117-110

Boxrec Forum .....14-0 in favor of Alvarez..cards...119-108 x 4 , 117-108 , 118-109

Boxingscene Forum...17-0 in favor of Alvarez...cards..119-108 x 2

Badlefthook...4-0 in favor of Alvarez..cards... 118-109 , 118-110 Alvarez

Livefight forum...10-0 in favor of Alvarez but no cards were left

Theboxingtruthradio...1-0 in favor of Alvarez....119-109 Alvarez

Redemption For Sykes

Gary Sykes vs Carl Johanneson - British Super Featherweight Title

Another main event on Sky TV another excellent fight. Gary Sykes and Carl Johanneson deserve immense credit for a very good and close fight last night in Huddersfield. Sky Sports must also be happy as so far this year  every main event has given the boxing fans well matched contests.

Sykes vs Johanneson was probably the closest fight this year to judge although the BBBof C judges did an excellent job by all agreeing that Sykes had done enough to retain his title. The champion started with his usual high tempo as the older and more experienced Johanneson couldn't keep up with his younger upstart. Johanneson though was landing body punches even though he was losing the first few rounds but as the fight began to reach the middle stages the constant pressure from the Leeds man began to tell as he was beginning to nail Sykes and slow him down.

The young champion rallied in the 7th and 8th rounds as the former champion began to  slow down himself , Johanneson had been landing big shots but none like the one punch kayo suffered by Sykes in his last fight vs Gray Buckland in the prizefighter format. That was to change though early in the 9th when Johanneson landed a massive overhand right that knocked Sykes to the ground. Johanneson then put everything into finishing the champion but Sykes showed that he has learned from his shock defeat by covering up well and grabbing hold of Johanneson. In the last 30 seconds of the round it was Sykes who was firing the punches as the older former champion had run out of gas. I feel this was the turning point in the fight as Sykes had proven to himself that he could come through a big crisis.

After 9 rounds i had it 86-85 Johanneson , the problem though was that in trying to finish Sykes Johanneson had used up too much energy. Sykes who is 5 years younger then began to use his famous work rate again and was able to out punch Johanneson in the last 3 rounds. This i feel is where the fight was won as on many cards the fight was very close until Johanneson's long career began to catch up on him.

After the fight Sykes promoter Frank Maloney said that he is hoping for a match between Sykes and new European Super Featherweight champion Ermano Fegatilli who dethroned Steve Foster Jnr last week.

Below as always is my scorecard along with the fans forums scores , TV , written press and boxing sites scorecards.

Round 1.....Sykes 10-9
Round 2.....Sykes 10-9
Round 3.....Johanneson 10-9
Round 4.....Johanneson 10-9
Round 5.....Johanneson 10-9
Round 6.....Draw 10-10
Round 7.....Sykes 10-9
Round 8.....Sykes 10-9
Round 9.....Johanneson 10-8
Round 10...Sykes 10-9
Round 11...Sykes 10-9
Round 12...Sykes 10-9

TOTAL.....SYKES 115-113

Judges Scorecards : Steve Gray .....116-112 Sykes
                               Mark Green.....115-112 Sykes
                               John Keane......115-113 Sykes

GARY SYKES WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

TV , Fans Forums , Written Press and Boxing Sites Scores


Glen McCrory (SKY).........114-113 Sykes
Ritchie Woodhall (SKY)......Sykes by 2 points
John Rawling (SKY)............Sykes just ahead

Bob Mee (SKY).......114-113 Sykes

Graham Houston (boxing monthly)....116-111 Sykes

Andrew Wake (Secondsout.com)....Sykes by 5 points

Ian McNeilly (boxrec.com)....115-114 Sykes

Alexy Sukachev (boxingscene.com).....114-114 Draw

Worldboxingnews.net.....114-113 Johanneson

Boxrec Forum - 8-0 in favor of Sykes...cards...116-113 , 115-113 , 114-113 , 117-112

Boxingasylum - 2-1 in favor of Sykes...cards...116-112 , 115-112 for Sykes

Budweiser Forum - 2-0 in favor of Johanneson...cards...114-113 , 115-114

Eastsideboxing forum - 15-0-1 in favor of Sykes...cards...116-114 , 115-112 , 114-113
                                    116-113 x 2 , 115-113 x3 , 116-112 x 3 , 114-114 draw

Body Blow - Fegatilli Upsets Foster Jnr

Steve Foster Jnr vs Ermano Fegatilli - European Super Featherweight title

Britain suffered its first real boxing defeat of the year last night when Belgian Ermano Fegatilli dethroned Salfords Steve Foster Jnr at the Reebok premier suite in Bolton. The Challenger Ermano became only the 2nd fighter in Belgian history to win the European title.

Immediatley after the fight the Foster camp blamed the defeat on a virus which sapped Steve Jnr energy???. Maybe there is a bit of truth in this because from round 6 onwards Foster severely tired and the light hitting Fegatilli was able to floor the champion 5 times. The fight started quite even both fighters probably winning 2 of the first 4 rounds. Fegatilli did look a little faster although Foster Jnr seemed to be landing the harder shots especially to the body.

The 5th was Fosters Jnrs biggest round and he dominated the Belgian and then looked like taking over the fight but when the 6th started Foster jnr seemed to lack energy and was content to sit on the ropes whilst Fegatilli blasted away. Now as mentioned before Fegatilli isn't a big puncher (5 kos in 22) tell you that but he was beginning to repeatably hurt foster to the body. I had the fight even going into the 9th but then the fight began to go sour for the champion as Fegatilli dropped him with a vicious body shot. Foster took an 8 count and survived the round.

Body shots then floored Foster 3 times in the 10th. Foster was very lucky there wasn't a 3 knockdown rule as the fight would have been over but now he was way behind on the cards (i had it 96-90) and his corner were very close to throwing in the towel. The 11 th went the same way for Fegatilli as he floored Foster Jnr again , this time it did look that Maurice Hope in Fosters corner was going to end the fight but he gave his fighter the benefit of the doubt which when using the "virus" claim could have been dangerous for Foster.

Credit where credits due. Foster came out in the 12th clearly still hurt but he pushed himself forward throwing punches and won the round. Fegatilli seemed to play it safe as he knew with 5 knockdowns he had the fight in the bag. It was a great effort by the Belgian and a great bit of bravery by Foster Jnr to see the fight out.

The judges had this fight closer than many on TV and on the boxing forums sites etc. My full scorecard is below along with Eastsideboxing member (put em up). As always i have added the scores from all the boxing sites , TV etc

BOXINGSCORECARD                                                 PUT EM UP

Round 1.....10-9 Foster jnr..............................................10-9 Foster Jnr
Round 2.....10-9 Fegatilli.................................................10-9 Fegatilli
Round 3.....10-9 Fegatilli.................................................10-9 Fegatilli
Round 4.....10-9 Foster Jnr.............................................10-9 Fegatilli
Round 5.....10-9 Foster Jnr.............................................10-9 Foster Jnr
Round 6.....10-9 Foster jnr............................................. 10-9 Foster Jnr
Round 7.....10-9 Fegatilli.................................................10-9 Fegatilli
Round 8.....10-9 Fegatilli.................................................10-9 Fegatilli
Round 9.....10-8 Fegatilli.................................................10-8 Fegatilli
Round 10...10-6 Fegatilli.................................................10-6 Fegatilli
Round 11...10-8 Fegatilli.................................................10-8 Fegatilli
Round 12...10-9 Foster Jnr.............................................10-9 Foster Jnr

TOTAL.....115-108 FEGATILLI....................................116-107 FEGATILLI

Judges Scorecards : Franco Chiminale... 114-110 Fegatilli
                               Soren Saugmann ..  114-109 Fegatilli
                               Arnold Golger.........114-109 Fegatilli

ERMANO FEGATILLI WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

TV, Boxing Forums , Websites and Written Press Scores

Glen McCrory (sky)..... 116-107 Fegatilli
Bob Mee (sky).....  115-108 Fegatilli
John Rawling (sky).... Fegatilli won clearly

Alexey Sukachev (boxingscene)...115-108 Fegatilli

Boxingscene forum...4-0 in favor of Fegatilli , 1 card of 117-108 was posted

Eastsideboxing forum ...9-0 in favor of Fegatilli , cards..116-107 , 115-108

Boxrec forum...9-0 in favor of Fegatilli , cards..116-107 , 116-110 , 116-108

Budweiser Forum...3-0 in favor of Fegatilli , cards..119-110 , 117-108 , 115-108

Boxing Asylum forum...1-0 in favor of Fegatilli , card...115-108

Saddo Boxing Forum...2-0 in favor of Fegatill although no cards were left

Sturm Stops Hearns And History

Felix Sturm vs Ronald Hearns - WBA Middleweight Title

In Germany on Saturday night Defending WBA Champion Felix Sturm stopped the son of the Legendary Tommy Hearns by 7th round knockout. Ronald Hearns was hoping to emlulate his father who won the middleweight title 24 years ago by battering Juan Roldan in 4 rounds. Although really a Light-middleweight Ronald Hearns was given a surprise chance against the German champion maybe on the back of his surname?.

As the fight started Hearns looked loose and let his shots go but most of them were jabs that were hitting the champions arms. Sturm has a style similar to Arthur Abraham where he walks forward with hands held high around his face picking shots. What was apparent even this early in the fight was that Sturm was very accurate with his punches as he constantly caught the challenger when Hearns stopped his jab.

Round 2 again followed the same pattern with Hearns throwing more punches but not landing and Sturm picking his shots well. Hearns was constantly on the back foot and didn't have the power his father had to stop the champion getting close. The 3rd was harder to score , i had it 10-10 as Hearns began to land more with the jab but again was getting caught himself. It was the battle of the jabs withe very few right hands.

Sturm had a decent 4th as he continued to back the challenger up and catch him at will. To his credit though Hearns began the 5th much better and seemed to hurt the champion with a right to the body that made Sturm back up for the first minute and a half of the round. Sturm did come back late in the round  but it wasnt enough to even get a share.

The pace quickened in the 6th with the champion closing the distance much much quicker ,  right hands bounced of the challengers head and it only seemed a matter of time before Sturm got his victory as Hearns simply doesn't have enough pop on his punched to really make a dent.

 The end came in the 7th although a bit premature Hearns took a huge right to the head and seem to be a punch from going down before the ref (Raul Caiz jnr) jumped in and stopped the fight. It was far to early to stop the fight although there wasn't much of a complaint by Hearns or his camp. The champion moves on to bigger fights and NOW must move away from Germany for tougher fights as the quality of his challengers has not been great.One fight id love to see is Sturm vs Martinez but in all honesty i cant see it happening as Martinez will probably end the Germans Title reign probably by knockout.

FELIX STURM VS RONALD HEARNS

http://www.boxing-core.com/videos/_Felix_Sturm_vs_Ronald_Hearns_Part_1_of_2?vid=10002635

http://www.boxing-core.com/videos/_Felix_Sturm_vs_Ronald_Hearns_Part_2_of_2?vid=10002636

My scorecard is below along with the usual boxing fans scores from the forums and websites.

Round 1.....10-9 Sturm
Round 2.....10-9 Sturm
Round 3.....10-10 Draw
Round 4.....10-9 Sturm
Round 5.....10-9 Hearns
Round 6.....10-9 Sturm

TOTAL...59-56 Felix Sturm

FELIX STURM WINS BY 7TH ROUND KO

Boxing Fans And Websites Scores

Boxrec...7-0 in favor of Sturm with the only card being 60-55 Sturm

Eastsideboxing....8-0 in favor of Sturm with the only card being 59-55 Sturm

Boxingscene...9-2 in favor of Sturm with the only card being 60-54 Sturm

Fightfrancise (uppercutter)..had it 58-56 in favor of Hearns????

Experience Over Workrate - Theophane Lifts Title

Lenny Daws vs Ashley Theophane - British Light Welterweight Title

A Fight of Two Halves , that was the tale of the exciting British Light welterweight scrap that took place at Wembley Arena between Lenny Daws and Ashley Theophane. The fight as expected started at a brisk pace as the champion Daws used his non stop style to knock Theophane out of his game plan. Although sometimes scrappy there was no doubt that the champions work rate was what gave Daws an early lead. I had it 58-56 to Daws after 6 whereas Steve Bunce covering the fight for Premier Sports had the champion 5-1 up in rounds.

The second half of fight would become different though as Theophane began to time his punches alot better and his early body work began to slow Daws down. When the fight reached the 9th round it still looked like the champions workrate would see him through until a wicked combination of body punches and a big right had changed the fight around. Theophane was now in the ascendancy , Daws was badly hurt and soon after had to take a second count although to his credit he survived the round and ended up firing back at the American based Theophane.

With the fight just about even (i had it 85-85) after 9 rounds it looked as if all the experience gained by Theophane in the American gyms was showing as the challenger paced himself perfectly. I had him winning 2 of the last 3 rounds to cap a fine come from behind win. Both guys though deserve immense credit as it provided the fans with an excellent Mick Hennessy promoted main event.

Below as always is my scorecard along with all the boxing fans  , TV , written press and boxing websites scores.

For the 2nd week on boxingscorecard i have a guest this time from http://www.boxrec.com/ who has kindly supplied his scorecard for me. Thanks to (Alexpaterson) for doing this.

BOXINGSCORECARD                                          ALEXPATERSON

Round 1.....Daws 10-9..............................................Daws 10-9
Round 2.....Daws 10-9..............................................Daws 10-9
Round 3.....Theophane 10-9......................................Theophane 10-9
Round 4.....Daws 10-9..............................................Daws 10-9
Round 5.....Theophane 10-9......................................Daws 10-9
Round 6.....Daws 10-9..............................................Theophane 10-9
Round 7.....Draw 10-10............................................Theophane 10-9
Round 8.....Daws 10-9..............................................Theophane 10-9
Round 9.....Theophane 10-7......................................Theophane 10-7
Round 10...Theophane 10-9......................................Theophane 10-9
Round 11...Daws 10-9..............................................Theophane 10-9
Round 12...Theophane 10-9......................................Daws 10-9

TOTAL...114-113 THEOPHANE............................115-111 THEOPHANE

Judges Scorecards: John Keane...... 115-112 Theophane
                              Dave Parris........115-111 Theophane
                              Howard Foster..115-111 Theophane

ASHLEY THEOPHANE WINS BY UNANIMOUS DECISION

TV And Boxing Fans Scores

Steve Bunce (Premier Sports)... 114-112 Theophane

Boxrec Fans...5-1-1 in favor of Theo with cards 115-111 , 113-113 and Theo by 2 or 3

Eastsideboxing fans... 9-0 in favor of Theo ,  cards 116-110 , 115-113 , 115-111 , 117-109

Boxingscene fans...2-0 in favor of Theophane , 1 fan had Theo up by 1

Alex Sukachev (boxingscene)... 115-111 Theophane

Budweiser Boxing fans... 2-0 in favor of Theophane with both scoring 114-111