UFC: Henderson edges Melendez, retains title

ABS-CBNnews.com

Posted at 04/21/2013 6:14 PM | Updated as of 04/21/2013 6:14 PM

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – Benson "Smooth" Henderson retained his UFC lightweight title after winning a razor-thin split decision against former Strikeforce champion Gilbert "El Niño" Melendez in the main event of UFC on FOX 7 Saturday in San Jose, California.

Henderson got off to a slow start but landed more significant strikes, especially in the championship rounds, as he did enough to earn the victory on two of the three judges' scorecards, 48-47, 48-47 and 47-48.

"It was a tough fight," said Henderson, who sustained a bloody nose after the contest. "I know how tough he is, hats off to Gil."

Melendez kept moving forward in the first two rounds, countering Henderson’s attacks with vicious right hands of his own, while catching many of the champion’s dangerous kicks.

Henderson finally gained some momentum in the third round, when he landed a huge inside leg kick that took Melendez’s feet out from underneath him.

"El Niño" recovered well, however, and held off Henderson's takedown attempts throughout the round.

The third ended with Melendez catching another kick from Henderson, which saw both men slip to the mat.

Henderson had to be pulled away from Melendez by referee John McCarthy as he was pounding away on the challenger seconds after the bell.

"Smooth" carried his momentum in the fourth round, as he finally landed his elbows and knees to the body, while continuing to batter Melendez’s thighs and calves with several kicks. A particularly strong kick towards the end of the round sent Melendez to the canvas once again, but he recovered and continued to throw punches.

Action slowed down in the fifth and final round, although Melendez kept pressing forward and unloading punches. Henderson, however, kept Melendez at bay through his elbows and kicks.

It was Henderson's seventh consecutive victory, keeping him undefeated inside the Octagon. Melendez, meanwhile, lost his UFC debut after previously plying his trade in Strikeforce.

"Smooth" capped off his victory by proposing to his girlfriend, Maria Magana, inside the Octagon, and momentarily silencing the boos of the pro-Melendez crowd.

"There's a lot of bigger things that fighting and I had to take care of one of those," Henderson said.

Melendez, meanwhile, said he was "heartbroken" by the defeat and believes he did enough to win the fight.

"It was a tough fight. I thought I got (rounds) 1-2, I could seem him winning 3 and 4. But I thought I came on strong in the fifth and stole the fight," he said in an interview with Ariel Helwani on UFC on FUEL TV after the event.

"It was a tough fight though. I gotta watch the tape. Benson's a stud. He’s a tricky guy to hit. He’s very tough to hit," Melendez said.

The loss ended Melendez's seven-fight winning streak, dropping his professional record to 21-3.

In the co-main event, Daniel Cormier dominated former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir to win by unanimous decision, with judges giving him the fight 30-27 across the board.

Lightweight contender Josh Thomson stunned former title contender Nate Diaz, winning via technical knockout in the second round.

 

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BOOM BOOM BAUTISTA LOSES TITLE, HANGS UP HIS GLOVES

By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 21 Apr 2013

Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista lost his WBO Intercontinental featherweight title in a sometimes ugly brawl with rough and rugged Mexican challenger Jose "Negro" Ramirez before a wildly cheering crowd of fight fans at the University of Southeastern Philippines gym after which respected ALA Promotions patron Tony Aldeguer told the Manila Standard it was time for Bautista to retire.

It was a decision concurred in by his son, ALA Promotions president Michael Aldeguer and one that was relayed to Bautista who, despite a gallant effort, showed the wear and tear of an entertaining and exciting career that forced the Aldeguers hand.

From the time he was dropped in the opening round by a left-right combination to the chin and suffered a cut from an accidental head-butt, Bautista was unable to find his rhythm or to inflict any serious damage on the Mexican who surprisingly found himself at the end of a 111-114 scorecard by judge Edward Ligas which drew loud boos from the crowd when it was announced by Ted Lerner.

However, judges Danrex Tapdasan and Salven Lagumbay saved the day as well as the reputation and integrity of the Philippines when they correctly scored the fight for Ramirez by an identical 114-111 score which drew cheers from the fans in Davao who, like the rest of the country, abhor hometown decisions.

The action was fast and furious and spiced with quite a few ugly tactics by both fighters and in the din of the crowd international referee Bruce McTavish as well as the fighters didn't hear the bell signaling the end of round two and continued to throw punches.

After a furious exchange in round three McTavish went to the corner of Bautista and asked him "Are you okay?" to which "Boom Boom' replied "Yes, I'm okay."

Ramirez was cautioned for using his head in round five and received a second warning from McTavish in the very next round, prompting Bautista to retaliate with some nasty tactics of his own prompting McTavish who did a tremendous job under trying circumstances to admonish Bautista telling him "Boom Boom keep it clean."

Bautista hurt Ramirez with a solid right hand in round seven before dropping him with an excellent one-two combination in round eight.

Another head-butt by Ramirez in the tenth round forced the referee to penalize the Mexican a point for repeatedly charging forward with his head with an elbow on the side of Bautista's head causing a cut which bled profusely before the ring physician took a look at it on the request of McTavish and ruled that Bautista could continue.

The tide had clearly turned in favor of Ramirez in the so-called championship rounds as he slammed Bautista with body shots and occasionally used a clubbing right hand to the side of the head.

Ramirez hurt Bautista in the penultimate round as the Filipino uncharacteristically resorted to holding, shoving and complaining about the tactics of Ramirez who kept boring in to the end to earn a well-deserved victory and continue the painful series of losses of Filipino champions.

It began with Manny Pacquiao's crushing 6th round knockout by Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8 and the back-to-back weekend losses of WBO/WBA flyweight champion Brian Viloria to another Mexican Juan Carlos Estrada on April 6 at the Venetian Resort Hotel in Macau and WBO,Ring Magazine and WBC Diamond Belt champion Nonito "The Filipino Flash" Donaire loss to WBA champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux in a lackluster unification title bout before a sell-out crowd at the iconic Radio City Music Hall in New York. last April 13.

The Aldeguer father and son were convinced that it was time for Bautista to hang up his gloves.

Tony Aldeguer who looks after his fighters and doesn't take money from them said Bautista was well-set. He has two houses, four cars, a few businesses and money in the bank and it was time for him to look after his wife and newborn baby.

Aldeguer said "Boom Boom" had given fight fans lots of excitement during his career and he had nothing to be ashamed of.

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CANELO ALVAREZ UNIFIES SUPER WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION WITH UNANIMOUS DECISION VICTORY OVER AUSTIN TROUT

PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 21 April

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS (April 20, 2013) – Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez unified the Super Welterweight Division with a unanimous decision victory over Austin Trout on Saturday in front of a raucous 39,247 crowd at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Alvarez defended his WBC belt while capturing Trout’s WBA title and the vacant Ring Magazine Super Welterweight title with his signature power and incredible elusive defensive skills in a close contest. Judges at ringside scored the fight 115-112, 116-111 and 118-109.

“Austin was a difficult fighter, but little by little I figured out how to fight him,” Canelo said. “I was connecting with my right and with my jab. My jab was perfect. It was the key.”

Canelo (42-0-1, 30 KOs), of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, knocked down the previously undefeated Trout (26-1, 14 KOs), of Las Cruces, N.M., for the first time in his career just seconds into the seventh round in a fight that was closer than the judges’ scorecards indicated.

In the electric and decidedly pro-Canelo Alamodome, the 22-year-old avenged a loss his brother Rgoberto Alvarez suffered againstTrout in 2011.

“My brother was a big motivation for this fight. I did it for him,” Canelo said. “Trout beat my brother and he’s my blood.”

When asked after the fight who he would like to fight next, Canelo was confident.

“Obviously, I want Mayweather next,” Canelo said referring to boxing’s pound-for-pound champ Floyd Mayweather.

The 27-year-old Trout acknowledged that he was surprised by Canelo’s improved defense and his ability to avoid Trout’s consistent jab.

“Canelo shocked us,” Trout said. “He boxed a lot better than I thought. He moved a lot better than I thought. Not that I underestimated him, we just prepared for a totally different fighter.

“He was the better man. He was quicker. He was stronger. I have no excuses for tonight. He was the better man.”

In the SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING opener, Omar Figueroa Jr. (21-0-1, 17 KOs) extended his undefeated record with an impressive first-round knockout over previously undefeated Abner Cotto (16-1, 7 KOs). Figueroa scored a knockdown two minutes into the bout with a vicious body punch. Cotto got up, but Figueroa kept applying pressure and ended matters with another big left hand to the body with just three second left in the first round (2:57).

“Those body shots linger for a while,” Figueroa said. “I knew I was going to catch him again. I knew it was just a matter of time.

“This is only going to help me get where I really want to be. We want to get to those world titles and this is only going to help us get there. We’ll do it again whenever, wherever. Just give me a time of day.”

Jermall Charlo (13-0, 9 KOs), of Houston Texas, registered a dominating technical knockout victory over Orlando Lora (29-4-2, 19 KOs), of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexico in a bout featured on SHOWTIME EXTREME. With Charlo picking apart Lora and cracking open cuts on the veteran, Lora’s corner stopped the bout after the fourth round for the TKO.

In other SHOWTIME EXTREME bouts, Julian Williams (12-0-1, 7 KOs), of Philadelphia, Pa., scored a technical knockout at 1:43 of the third round over Dashon Johnson (14-11-3, 5 KOs), of Escondido, Calif., and undefeated prospect Terrell Gausha (4-0, 2 KOs), of Cleveland, Ohio, survived a first-round knockdown to register a four-round unanimous (38-37 three times) decision win over Williams Waters (2-4, 2 KOs), of Valley, Ala.

Saturday’s SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING fights will replay on Sunday, April 21 at 9 a.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME and on Tuesday, April 23 at 11 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME.

Brian Kenny served as host of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING with Mauro Ranallo calling the action, Al Bernstein and Paulie Malignaggi serving as expert analysts with Jim Gray reporting. The telecast was produced by David Dinkins, Jr., with Bob Dunphy directing.

ABOUT "CANELO VS. TROUT":

Canelo vs. Trout, a 12-round Super Welterweight World Championship Unification fight for Canelo’s WBC title, Trout’s WBA title and the vacant Ring Magazine title, was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions, Canelo Promotions and Leija & Battah Promotions and sponsored by Corona and AT&T. The co-main event was a 10-round fight between undefeated prospects Omar Figueroa Jr. of Weslaco, Texas and Abner Cotto of Caguas, Puerto Rico for the vacant WBC Silver Lightweight Championship which is presented in association with Miguel Cotto Promotions. The fights aired live on SHOWTIME at 10 p.m. ET/7 p.m. PT with Canelo vs. Trout being presented in association with Greg Cohen Promotions. SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING® is available in Spanish on secondary audio programming (SAP). Preliminary fights aired on SHOWTIME EXTREME at 8 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast).

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Win Lose or Draw Where Does Donaire Go After the Rigondeaux Fight?

This Saturday WBO Junior Featherweight Champion Nonito Donaire may not be fighting the biggest name opponent that he’s ever faced, but arguably the toughest in terms of skill, when he takes on WBA Super World Super Bantamweight Champion Guillermo Rigondeaux at the Radio City Music in New York.

Donaire had a stellar year in 2012 beating the likes of former WBO Junior Featherweight Champion Wilfredo Vasquez Junior, former IBF Junior Featherweight Champion Jeffrey Mathebula, former WBC Junior Featherweight Champion Toshiaki Nishioka, and former light flyweight, flyweight, super flyweight, and super bantamweight champion Jorge Acre. As a result of his impressive list of victories, Donaire won the 2012 Fighter of the Year Award from the Boxing Writer’s Association of America.

Although Rigondeaux may not have faced the same level of opposition and doesn’t have the same amount of experience at the pro level that Donaire has, it’s awfully hard to not acknowledge his skills and what he is capable of doing in the ring. He has a slick counterpunching style that could present problems for Donaire. On paper this looks to be a 50/50 match-up.

Regardless of what happens on Saturday, what is left for Donaire at 122 pounds? He has pretty much cleaned out the division. The only other name opponent that was left in the division was Abner Mares, and he has chosen to move up to the featherweight division and take on WBC Champion Daniel Ponce De Leon. Even if Mares decided to stay at super bantamweight the fight would have been hard to make because of the issues that Donaire’s promoter Top Rank has with Mares’ promoter Golden Boy Promotions.

If Donaire ends up moving up to featherweight and a fight with the Mares-De Leon winner can’t be made, he would also face another problem. His trainer Robert Garcia trains two of the other featherweight champions Mikey Garcia and Evgeny Gradovich, so those fights would not be an option. He could face WBA Featherweight Champion Chris John but good luck trying to make a fight with him, given the fact that he rarely leaves his home country of Indonesia, and it’s doubtful that Donaire would chose to fight him over there. Plus, John isn’t exactly a household name over in here the US, so it wouldn’t exactly be a big money fight for Donaire either.

We have an extremely interesting match-up coming up this Saturday, and it will be even more interesting to see what happens afterward.



By: Joe Habeeb of the THA Boxing Voice

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Donaire should deliver performance worthy of a P4P ring king at Radio City

• April 10, 2013
• By: Michael Marley

 Let's get the conversation started before Filipino-American Nonito Donaire Jr. beats speedy Cuban and two time Olympic gold medalist Guillermo Rigondeaux in their world junior featherweight title bout (HBO) Saturday night at Radio Music Hall.

What convo, you say?

The same one that used to have Manny Pacquiao's name mentioned alongside, in front of or just right behind America's undefeated, dazzling ringmaster Floyd Mayweather, Jr.


Most would still consider, I believe "Money" to be atop the Pound For Pound totem pole and I can't really strenuously argue that.

All this pundit is saying is it's time to give the 31-1, 20 KOs Donaire, age 31, real consideration to either take the mythical top man spot now or very soon.


A superb peformance against the 11-0, eight knockouts Rigondeaux would certainly boost Donaire's voting bloc.

Donaire's array of ring skills have long been apparent but it seems to me that both he and gifted trainer, Robert Garcia (only age 38), are peaking at the same time.


Garcia will accept the Eddie Futch best trainer award from the Boxing Writers Thursday night and he will likely win the honor that seemed to be Coach Freddie Roach's personal property many more times.

I dined with Garcia Tuesday night at Ecco downtown and I think he sees chinks in Guillermos armor.

The Oxnard, California, trainer and ex-IBF junior lightweight champion thinks Rigondeaux will eventually open up and let it rip.

"He will wait for Nonito to make a mistake first," Garcia said.

"But Nonito rarely makes a ring mistake," I said.

 "Exactly," said Garcia, smiling brightly.

Garcia likes his horse and the course.

I'm sensing a breakout peformance, a grand victory on the Big Stage in the Big Town, for the guy whose names is rightfully being mentioned as P4P king.

If he's not the king, then Donaire is certainly a prince.



(mlcmarley@aol.com)

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ESTRADA DETHRONES VILORIA

By Rene Bonsubre, Jr.
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 07 Apr 2013

News

MACAU - Juan Francisco ‘El Gallo’ Estrada did not waste his second chance at a world title. The 22 year old from Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico took Brian Viloria’s best punches and came back for more. The Hawaiian Punch tried to control the tempo of the fight with his jab but Estrada easily countered with hard hooks to the body and head. 

It was not just Estrada’s long reach that posed problems for Viloria but his toughness as well. Going into the sixth, with the crowd cheering for him, Viloria mixed his shots to the body and head. But Estrada proved resilient. Blood dripped from his nose in the seventh but Estrada continued to make Viloria’s stay inside the ring a living hell. 

For every power punch Viloria threw, Estrada fired with more of his own. Lumps formed on Viloria’s face and Estrada seemed the fresher fighter going into the latter third of the fight. Viloria managed to corner and nail the Mexican but it was Viloria who was bleeding and reeling in the championship rounds.  

The scores – Levi Martinez – 115-113 for Viloria which was overruled by Michael Pernick – 116-111 and Francisco Martinez 117-111 who scored for the new WBA/WBO flyweight champion. 

 The 32 year old Viloria drops to his fourth loss (32W-4L, 19 KO’s); Estrada (23W-2L, 18 KO’s) also stopped Viloria’s winning streak against Mexican fighters. 

Estrada will now defend his WBO belt against Milan Melindo of the Philippines sometime in August. 

Viloria vs Estrada was held at the Cotai Arena of Macau’s Venetian Hotel and promoted by Top Rank. 

In the post-fight press conference, Viloria sported bandages on both of his eyebrows but still manage to make a joke about his appearance and apologized that he ‘looked different’ compared to when he arrived. Viloria apologized to the Filipino boxing fans for not retaining his belts but vowed to once again make a comeback and requested a rematch from Estrada.
 
 Estrada dedicated his win to his mother and aunt. He said that “I was a nobody before this fight. Now I am starting my real career.” Estrada had previously lost a unanimous decision to Roman Gonzales in his attempt to wrest the WBA light flyweight title. 

Photo: Juan Francisco Estrada (L) of Mexico wins a 12-round split decision to take the WBA & WBO flyweight titles from Brian "Hawaiian Punch" Viloria (R), Saturday night at the Venetian Macau Resort in Macau, China. Photo by Chris Farina - Top Rank.     

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Pacquiao hopes to fight in PH this September

ABS-CBNnews.com

Posted at 04/07/2013 8:24 PM | Updated as of 04/07/2013 8:24 PM

 

MANILA, Philippines – Fighting congressman Manny Pacquiao is focused on the campaign trail and has yet to talk to his promoters about his next fight, which he hopes will be held in the Philippines.

Pacquiao recently confirmed that he will return to the ring in September in what will be his first fight since losing by knockout to rival Juan Manuel Marquez.

“Sinisikap natin, tinatrabaho natin na hopefully, dito mangyari ‘yung next fight,” Pacquiao said.
The “Pacman” has yet to talk to promoter Bob Arum about the venue or his opponent, but plans to start discussions by June.

“June pa kami mag-uusap about boxing,” he said.



According to Arum, Pacquiao has “expressed a desire” to fight in Macau, which hosted the title bout between Fil-Am Brian Viloria and Mexican Juan Francisco Estrada last Saturday.

But in a message to his Filipino fans, Pacquiao said they are working on holding the fight in the Philippines.

“Hayaan niyo po, sinisikap po namin na dito maganap ‘yung next fight ko, para mapanood naman ng mga kababayan natin,” he said. “Ipag-pray niyo na dito mangyari.”

Pacquiao last fought in the Philippines in July 2006, when defeated Mexican Oscar Larios via unanimous decision in about held at the Araneta Coliseum. – Report from Anne Santos, ABS-CBN News SOKSARGEN

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