Casimero and Smith brothers win – results

By Boxing News - 09/10/2016 - Comments

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By Scott Gilfoid: In an undercard filled with dreadful mismatches from top to bottom, International Boxing Federation flyweight champion John Riel Casimero (23-3, 15 KOs) made easy work of local British challenger Charlie Edwards (8-1, 3 KOs) in using him as a punching bag for nine rounds before stopping him in the 10th round on Saturday night at the O2 Arena in London, England.

A good fight this was not. Casimero flattened the overmatched Edwards with a peach of a left hand in the 10th. I had a feeling that was going to be a terrible mismatch the moment the fight was announced, and boy was I right. I was still kind of fun to watch just for the sake of watching a mindless fight that had no suspense at all. I was guessing to myself what round it would end starting in the 1st round. I was surprised Edwards lasted until the 10th, because this was really bad.

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In other boxing results on the card, unbeaten #1 WBC super middleweight contender Callum Smith (21-0, 16 KOs) stayed unbeaten with an easy 7th round knockout win over little known Norbert Nemesapati (21-4, 16 KOs). The fight was stopped after Nemesapati opted not to continue after the 6th. It was a good thing because he wasn’t doing anything other than taking shots to the head and body one after another. Smith knocked Nemesapati down with a crushing shot to the midsection in the 6th.

Surprisingly, Nemesapati got back to his feet and made it out of the round. I thought he was goners for sure after the way he went down. It was pretty painful to watch. Nemesapati made the right decision by not coming out for the 7th round though, because he would have been put out of his misery had he continued to fight. Nemesapati didn’t have the talent and he definitely have the punching power to keep the stork-like Callum off of him.

With this win, Callum is still waiting in line for the smoke to clear between the unification match between IBF champion James DeGale and WBC belt holder Badou Jack. Smith will be fighting the winner of that contest unless they vacate. Callum needs to improve his game if he wants to beat Badou or DeGale. He looks too flawed to me.

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Unbeaten super featherweight Martin Ward (15-0-2, 8 KOs) defeated Andy Townend (16-4, 11 KOs) by an 8th round stoppage to win the vacant British strap.

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Former two-time super middleweight world title challenger Paul Smith (38-6, 22 KOs) stopped Daniel Regi (28-14, 15 KOs) in the 5th round. Smith knocked Regi down five times before the fight was mercifully halted.

For Smith, it was his third consecutive win since being beaten by Andre Ward by a 9th round knockout in June of 2015.

In Smith’s last two fights, he beat Bronislav Kubin last May and Bartlomiej Grafka. I have never heard of any of these guys before. It makes me wonder where Smith’s management is digging up his opponents. I can understand Smith wanting to get a confidence booster after his loss to Ward last year, but for him to devote an entire year fighting these types of guys. Nah, that doesn’t work with me. Smith is too old for him to be throwing away years of his career fighting fodder. The guy needs to step it up already.

Smith is going to have a hard time trying to get another world title shot after his last loss. Smith could increase the chances of him getting a shot at a strap if he took on a live body for a change, because that’s what he needs is to start beating contenders instead of the unknown fodder guys he’s been facing lately.

Unbeaten/untested welterweight prospect Conor Benn (4-0, 3 KOs) defeated Joe Ducker (0-2-1) by a 2nd round knockout. Benn dropped Ducker three times before the fight was finally halted. I’m not sure what Benn can hope to learn from mismatches like this. He wasn’t even getting hit back. It was just target practice.

Still sporting an undefeated record despite a couple of close calls in the past, #2 WBA 122lb contender Gavin McDonnell (16-0-2, 4 KOs) defeated Robin Zamora (6-3, 3 KOs) by an eight round decision. It was not competitive in the least. If McDonnell had any punching power to speak of, he would have knocked Zamora out.

Undefeated featherweight contender Kid Galahad (20-0, 11 KOs) stayed unbeaten with a 4th round knockout win over journeyman Emiliano Salvini (17-24-2, 2 KOs) .

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