David Benavidez Laughs at Plant, Open For Gilberto Ramirez

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Boxing Scene - By Boxing Clever

Earlier this month, David Benavidez (19-0, 17 KOs), 20 years old, became the youngest world champion in the sport he won a twelve round split decision over tough as nails Ronald Gavril in The Joint at The Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

The victory gave him the vacant WBC super middleweight title, which was vacated by Badou Jack when he moved up to 175-pounds.

According to Benavidez, during the fight with Gavril (18-2, 14 KOs) he overcame an injured left knuckle on his left hand in the fourth round, and he also suffered a knockdown in the twelfth and final round.

“Every jab caused sharp pain in my fist, but champions push through obstacles finding ways to win. I gave up the knockdown going for the kill, but I got up and came out on top,” said Benavidez to Premier Boxing Champions. “I can attack the body more, use more head movement, work more combinations, but the crowd was going crazy after every round. I gave an exciting fight showing I’m a champion they want to see.”

After the fight with Gavril was over, Benavidez was confronted by undefeated Caleb Plant.

Plant (16-0, 10 KOs) saw action on the undercard of the Hard Rock event, winning a ten round decision over Andrew Hernandez (19-7-1, 9 KOs).

 “He said, ‘Get ready, I’m coming after you,’ and if Caleb wants it, he can get it," said Benavidez. “Caleb couldn't stop a guy with six losses. Hernandez is a friend, but I’ve knocked out Hernandez a couple of times [during sparring sessions]. Trust me, Caleb’s not ready for me.”

Although he considers him to be a friend, Benavidez would love a unification with WBO champion Gilberto Ramirez (36-0, 24 KOs), who last week retained his world title with a hard fought decision over Jesse Hart (22-1, 18 KOs). 

“He’s a native Mexican and I’m a Mexican-American, and sometimes the Mexican-Americans are considered fake Mexicans by the [native] Mexicans,” said Benavidez.  “We’re friends, but if we ever fight it’ll be a spectacular brawl since I know his style and he knows mine."

Photos: Leduan Barthelemy vs. Eduardo Ramirez - Official Weights

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Photos: Leduan Barthelemy vs. Eduardo Ramirez - Official Weights

Via Boxing Scene - By Boxing Photos

Promoter Sampson Lewkowicz is proud to announce he will be donating $1 from every ticket sold to his upcoming event in Las Vegas to help victims of the recent Mexico City Earthquake.
 
The donated funds, to be distributed by Mauricio Sulaiman of the World Boxing Council, will be matched X5 by world-renowned philanthropist and Mexican business man Carlos Slim's Foundation.
 

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Terrible Head-Butt Leads Love & Han to Majority Techincal Draw

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Boxing Scene - By Keith Idec

A brutal head-butt brought the J’Leon Love-Abie Han fight to an abrupt, unusual conclusion Friday night.

The super middleweights were engaged in a competitive fight scheduled for 10 rounds when an accidental clash of heads left Han unable to continue in Las Vegas. Blood began pouring from a cut near the left corner of Han’s forehead and he went down to the canvas, where he was writhing in pain as referee Kenny Bayless tended to him.

The bout ended at 1:02 of the eighth round, which sent the fight to the scorecards. It resulted in a majority technical draw because two judges – Tim Cheatham and Patricia Morse Jarman – scored it even (76-76).

Judge Richard Ocasio strangely scored the fight 79-73 for Las Vegas’ Love (23-1-1, 13 KOs, 1 NC), who’s promoted by Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s company. Ocasio scored seven of the eight rounds for Love, who had difficulty at times dealing with Han’s awkward style.

Han (26-3-1, 16 KOs), of El Paso, Texas, had to be helped down from the ring and was wheeled away from it on a stretcher as a precaution.

Love-Han was the second of three fights Showtime aired as part of a “ShoBox: The New Generation” tripleheader from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Before the odd ending, the fight was close, though not especially entertaining.

Han switched to a southpaw stance and tried to confuse Love early in the fight. In the second round, Han landed two hard, straight right hands to Love’s jaw.

Han also connected with a counter left hook late in the second round. He followed that up with an overhand right to Love’s head as they traded in the center of the ring.

Love got hit less in the third round, but Han was the busier, more effective fighter in those three minutes. Love landed a hard right hand that backed up Han just after the two-minute mark of the fourth round.

Han repeatedly shook his right hand in the fifth round, but it wasn’t clear if he hurt it. Regardless, Han continued throwing it in the sixth round.

Neither fighter landed many clean punches during the seventh round. The eighth round was competitive as well prior to the accidental clash of heads.

Love, 29, ended nearly a one-year layoff Friday night. He hadn’t fought since stopping Dashon Johnson in the sixth round last September 16 in Las Vegas.

Han, 32, moved up from middleweight to box Love and fought for just the second time in two years. Before Friday night, his first-round knockout of overmatched Martin Rodriguez (4-21) was Han’s only fight since August 2015.

Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.

J'Leon Love Will Face Dashon Johnson on September 16

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Photo courtesy of Sean Michael Ham / Premier Boxing Champions

Boxing Scene - By Francisco Salazar

J'Leon Love will face Dashon Johnson on September 16, matchmaker John Beninati told BoxingScene.com.

The 10 round bout will take place inside the Chelsea Ballroom at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nev.

It is an intriguing crossroads bout between super middleweights, one vying for a world title opportunity and the other who has had a resurgence of sorts in recent years.

 

Love (22-1 1 ND, 12 KOs) has fought only once in 2016, stopping Michael Gbenga after the fifth round on April 1.

Love has won his last four bouts in a row since suffering his only defeat at the hands of Rogelio 'Porky' Medina in August of 2014.

Johnson (21-19-3, 6 KOs) has won six of his last seven bouts, with the lone blemish against Jesse Hart in a close fight.

Johnson has fought a who's who of world titleholders, contenders, and prospects. He has scored occasional upsets, including Mike Gavronski, Craig McEwan, and Elias Espadas.

In the main event of the Mayweather Promotions card, junior middleweight Ishe Smith (28-8, 12 KOs) will face Frank Galarza (17-1-2, 11 KOs) and unbeaten junior middleweight Domonique Dalton (17-0-1, 9 KOs) squares off against Justin DeLoach (15-1, 8 KOs).

Both bouts are scheduled for 10 rounds and will air on Bounce TV.

No word if the Love-Johnson fight will also be added to the live broadcast or be part of the non-televised undercard.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV, and Knockout Nation. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing 

Rances Barthelemy Drops, Decisions Relikh in WBA Eliminator

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Boxing Scene - By Cliff Rold

MGM National Harbor in Maryland - It was hard hitting throughout, with both men on the deck, and in the end the crowd was booing. That didn’t make the crowd right.

Cuban 30-year old former 130 and 135 lb. titlist Rances Barthelemy (26-0, 13 KO), 139 ½, of Las Vegas, Nevada, appeared to win most of the rounds en route to a unanimous decision over 27-year old Kiryl Relikh (21-2, 19 KO), 139 ½, of Belarus. The referee was Kenny Chevalier.

Relikh looked on the verge of a career best win halfway through the fight. A knockdown in round five had Barthelemy reeling but the former titlist made the bell. He returned the knockdown favor in the eighth with a vicious body shot that Relikh tried to play off as low. Another shot did stray low in the ninth and Relikh took ample time to recover. Neither came close to stopping the other again, even as they continued to land blasting, hard shots. 

In the end, Barthelemy simply landed more. The unanimous scores came in at 116-110, 115-111, and 117-109. Barthelemy earns a mandatory position with the WBA. Julius Indongo is the current WBA, IBO and IBF titlist.

A Cuban amateur national champion, 30-year-old Barthelemy turned pro in 2009. Born in Cuba but now fighting out of Las Vegas, Nev. he won a super featherweight world title in July 2014 by defeating Argenis Mendez in impressive fashion, and followed that up with a second round TKO victory over Angino Perez.

After dominating former champion Antonio DeMarco in June, he won a world title in a second division when he impressively defeated Denis Shafikov in December. Most recently, Barthelemy made the lone defense of his lightweight belt with a decision over former champion Mickey Bey last June.
 
Fighting out of Minsk, Belarus, Relikh returned to the ring after challenging the former champion Burns for the WBA title in October 2016.

The 27-year-old was undefeated after turning pro in 2011 leading up to his world title shot. Relikh owns wins over veteran contenders Christian Ariel Lope, Joaquim Carneiro and Lazaro Santos de Jesus.

BJ Flores Debuts at Heavyweight: Caleb Plant, Nyambayar Win

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Boxing Scene - By Boxing Clever

Three fighters advised by boxing power broker Al Haymon secured victories on Saturday night.

At the Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona - BJ Flores (33-3-1, 21 KOs) made his official debut as a heavyweight, and demolished Jeremy Bates (26-19-1, 22 KOs) in the first round. Bates went down twice before the fight was waved off.

Flores, who weighed a solid 223-pounds for the fight, was having issues with making the cruiserweight limit. Last October, he squeezed down one final time to challenger WBC cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew. After started well in the first round, Flores was caught by a punch that he never saw coming and was eventually stopped in the third round.

After Deontay Wilder retained the WBC heavyweight crown with a knockout of Gerald Washington, there were two fights which were televised on Fox Sports 1 from the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.

In a super middleweight fight, unbeaten Caleb Plant (15-0, 10 KOs) continued his impress run with a ten round unanimous decision over durable Thomas Awimbono (25-7-1, 21 KOs). Plant dropped Awimbono in the first round, and then got the better of the action with hard shots for the rest of the way. The scores were 100-89, 99-90, 100-89.

Also on the card, junior lightweight prospect Tugstsogt Nyambayar (8-0, 8 KOs), who won a silver medal in the 2012 Olympic games, stopped Jhon Gemino (15-8-1, 7 KO) in the tenth and final round. Tug sent Gemino down in the third, twice in the sixth, and again in the tenth before the fight was waved off.

CALEB PLANT

"Tonight was about staying controlled. I didn't want to go out there and force anything. I just wanted to relax and settle in behind my jab, use my faints, and just take the shots that were there for me.
 
"I'm hoping that a win like this opens up some doors for me. The 168 lbs division is in my back pocket. I'm just taking it one fight at a time and we'll reach our goal.
 
"Going the distance to get a win over an experienced fighter like Awimbono shows a lot about my potential. He's been in there with some great fighters, but I fought my fight and got the win.
 
"I dropped him early with a flurry, but it's hard against a guy who didn't want to engage. You've got to take what they give you. Otherwise I risk going in too aggressive and getting caught off guard, which I can't allow. I have to remain patient and find my spots.
 
"I'm hoping for bigger fights every time. We don't want any soft touches. I've been trying to get fights with some top prospects, guys with some minor titles, but they won't take the fight. I can't let that bother me though, because I know I'm a high risk for these guys. It might be early in my career, but I can make the adjustments and do it all."
 
TUGSTSOGT NYAMBAYAR
 
"It meant a lot to get a win like that against a rugged fighter on short notice.
 
"We were looking for a knockout much earlier, but Gemino was really tough tonight. He showed a lot of heart, but thankfully we got the win.
 
"Even though this was a heavier weight than I'm used to fighting at, I had no problem handling his size.
 
"Fighting on a card like this on FS1 and FOX Deportes means the world to me. This was a big opportunity to showcase my skills.
 
"I want anyone they put in front of me next. I'll face whoever."
 
JHON GEMINO
 
"I'm not trying to make excuses, but we took this fight on very short notice. I'm very frustrated with my performance tonight.
 
"I'll do everything I can to get another fight in the U.S. and I promise to always give it my all. I hope the fans enjoyed our fight tonight.
 
"I'm willing to fight anyone, I just wish I had more time to prepare for Nyambayar."

PHOTOS: YORDENIS UGAS DEFEATS LEVAN GHVAMICHAVA

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By CROWN BOXING

Photos courtesy of Ryan Greene/Premier Boxing Champions

 

Sergey Lipinets Batters Walter Castillo In Breakout Performance

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Boxing Scene - By Jake Donovan

Welcome to the contender level, Sergey Lipinets.

The unbeaten rising super lightweight continues his rapid ascension through the ranks. His latest effort was a true breakout performance, battering veteran contender Walter Castillo en route to a 7th round stoppage win in the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) on ESPN-televised headliner Friday evening at Horseshoe Casino in Tunica, Mississippi.

True to form, Lipinets all but gave away the opening round versus Castillo, who was fighting for the first time since a highly questionable draw verdict he was gifted versus Keita Obara in their title eliminator last November. An ordered rematch was scratched when the Nicaraguan's team decided to take his career in a different direction. 

It led to a dead end, at least once the bell rang to begin round two. 

By then, Lipinets - born in Kazakhstan but who has lived in Russia before relocating to California - was warmed up and dialed in with his offensive-minded attack. All but ignoring the instructions from trainer and former two-division champ James 'Buddy' McGirt to double up on his jab, the unbeaten 27-year old - who boasts a rich background in various forms of combat sports, including kickboxing - plowed forward with overhand rights and occasional body work, breaking down Castillo with each passing round. 

A potential bullet was dodged in two ways when Lipinets suffered a cut at the end of what was otherwise a dominant round four. The official ruling from referee Bill Clancy was that it was caused by a clash of heads, but superior work by the tech team in the ESPN truck unearthed proof that it came courtesy of a straight right hand from Castillo in what turned out to be his last hurrah.

Had the bout been stopped because of the cut at any point beyond round four, it would have landed in the hands of the judges thanks to the official ruling. It never came to that, thanks to incredible corner work put in by cutman Mike Rodriguez, who disallowed the wound to become a factor. 

From there, Lipinets took care of the rest. A strong round five was followed up by a power-punching surge in the sixth, landing 23 punches in the three-minute frame - as many as Devis Boschiero landed in 12 rounds versus Mario Barrios in last Saturday's miserable PBC on ESPN headliner. 

More pain was on its way in round seven, but Castillo was spared a prolonged beating. Lipinets had knockout on his mind - again, going for the kill in spite of McGirt's insistence to hang back and box - with Clancy jumping in to rescue Castillo from additional punishment.

The official time was 2:45 of round seven.

Lipinets picks up his second straight televised knockout of 2016, improving overall to 10-0 (8KOs). The win comes on the heels of a FS1-aired stoppage win this past March over Levan Ghavimichava, who recently bounced back with a 7th round knockout victory of his own versus Breidis Prescott earlier this week. 

Castillo is winless in his last two starts as he falls to 26-4-1 (19KOs). The loss marked the first time he's been stopped in 31 career fights.

UNDERCARD

Tugstsogt Nyambayar remains a knockout every time out. The 2012 Olympic Silver medalist from Mongolia tore through Brooklyn-based featherweight Rafael Vasquez, scoring three knockdowns in a 1st round stoppage in their televised co-feature. 

Little was learned of Nyambayar, other than he boasts a potent right hand against which Vazquez simply could not defend. It was the weapon of choice for all three knockdowns, the first of which came just 30 seconds into the bout. A straight right hand upstairs deposited Vazquez on the canvas for a mandatory eight count. 

Soon thereafter came the second knockdown of the night, when a combination to the body and head floored Vazquez hard. The end was near, with Nyambayar going all in to close the show. A series of right hands upstairs produced the fight-ending third knockdown, with referee Keith Hughes waving off the bout without issuing a count.

The official time was 1:24 of round one. 

Nyambayar - who is now based out of Carson, Calif. - improves to 6-0 (6KOs), excluding his time spent in the World Series of Boxing. The 38-year old Vazquez, who was competitive in a loss to Ryan Kielczewski last October, falls to 16-3 (13KOs).

With plenty of time to kill, unproven "prospects" David Perez and Adan Ortiz (9-2, 8KOs) saw their six-round bout make it to the screen. It turned out to be an unexpected treat, with Perez (7-0, 3KOs) scoring an opening round knockdown en route to a unanimous decision win by scores were 60-53, 59-54 and 58-55.

Twitter: @JakeNDaBox_v2