By Erik Schmight: Former Women’s IBF European Super Bantamweight champion Esther Schouten (19-4-1, 9 KOs) defeated Zsofia Bedo (0-3-1) by a six-round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Maritim Hotel, Magdeburg, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. Schouten, who was coming off a year and a half layoff following an unsuccessful bid for the WBC featherweight title against Sharon Anyos, had an easy time against the inexperienced 22 year-old Bedo. Obviously, this was a step down in competition for Schouten, from the Netherlands, who appears to be in the rebuilding stage in her career after having experienced three losses out of her last four fights going into her bout with Bedo.

In the first round, Schouten had her way with Bedo, landing an assortment of jabs, right crosses an occasional shot to the midsection. I would have liked to have seen a few more combinations and punches to the midsection, though, because Schouten appeared to be mostly loading and landing one shot at a time. She looked good, using excellent form when throwing the punches, but she needed to add a couple of more to make her work more impressive. Bedo landed nothing in the round and only attempted a few punches. Read more

By Erik Schmight: Undefeated WIBF/WIBA/WBA/WBC Womans super middleweight champion Natascha Ragosina (17-0, 11 KOs) defeated Teresa Perozzi (6-3-1) by a 10-round lopsided unanimous decision at the Maritim Hotel, Magdeburg, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany on Saturday night. The final judges’ scores were 100-90, 99-90 and 99-91, for Ragosina. Originally from Russian and now living and fighting out of Germany, Ragosina, 31, towered over her 5′6″ opponent by 51/2 inches and used her height to easily pound out a one-sided decision. Though Perozzi, 34, gamely pressed the action for the entire bout, she simply wasn’t tall enough or highly skilled to compete with the 5′11 1/2 inch Ragosina, who stood tall all fight long, firing out mostly jabs at her shorter, rounder and slower opponent.

There was hardly any action in the first round whatsoever. In fact, there were only two punches that connected during the entire round, which has to be some kind of record. Ragosina mostly jabbed at the air with her left hand, not connecting, and not really trying to. I think she was mostly using her jab to ward off the short, squat Perozzi. Ragosina didn’t really have to do much, for Perozzi looked badly intimidated in the first round, as if she was afraid to get hit. Read more

By Manuel Perez: For the second time in four years, WBC super featherweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez (48-4-1, 35 KOs) finds himself on the losing end of a dreadful decision, this time a 12-round split decision loss to Filipino star Manny Pacquiao (46-3-2, 35 KOs) on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final judges’ scores were 115-112 for Pacquiao, 112-115 for Marquez and 114-113 for Pacquiao.

I personally had Marquez winning 8 rounds to 4, but with the knockdown of Marquez in the 3rd round, it came out to 7-5. Many other sports writers at both ringside and on the internet are in agreement with me about the outcome being a horrible decision.

I can’t say that I’m particularly surprised, though, because Pacquiao is the bigger named fighter and it would have taken almost a miracle performance by Marquez to pull out a decision, even though he was the WBC super featherweight champion going into the bout and should have had that going for him. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough cache to get the win, but for most people that saw the fight, they know really won the fight, so I consider Marquez the people’s champion. Read more

By Nate Anderson: Undefeated bantamweight contender Abner Mares (16-0, 10 KOs) destroyed an overmatched Diosdado Gabi (30-4-1, 21 KOs) in the 2nd round of a scheduled 12-round bout for the WBO NABO bantamweight title on Saturday night at the
Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Mares, 22, knocked Gabi down twice in the second round, prompting for referee Jay Nady to stop the one-sided slaughter at 0:49 of the 2nd round moments after Gabi had been knocked down for the second time in the round.

The first round was reasonably close, as Gabi looked impressive throwing combinations to the head and body of Mares. However, near the end of the first round, Mares, ranked #3 in the WBO bantamweight division, staggered Gabi with a right hand. In fact, it was the first right that Mares had thrown in the fight, and Gabi seemed not to ready for it after Mares had started so slowly. Mares landed a brief flurry before the bell, but didn’t have enough time to attempt to finish him off. Read more

By Eric Thomas: WBC lightweight champion David Diaz (34-1-1, 17 KOs) defeated Ramon Montano (15-5-2, 1 KOs) in a 12-round majority decision non-title bout on Saturday night at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The final judges’ scores were 95-95, 99-91 and 97-93. I personally had Diaz winning every round of the fight and couldn’t see any rounds that were even slightly close. Montano, 25, only had one knockout on his record going into this fight, and it showed badly, for he didn’t have enough power on his punches to win any of the rounds, even the first and second, rounds in which he was matching Diaz punch for punch.

Most of Montano’s shots were picked off by the gloves of Diaz, although in fairness to the judge that scored it 95-95, he may have not had his eyes focused on what was happening with Montano’s punches once they came near Diaz. Oveall, Diaz was much too powerful and big for Montano, and looked to be at least one weight class larger than him. After the first several rounds of the fight, Diaz’s size and strength really begin to be problem for Montano, as the fight turned into a grueling inside fight where Diaz was able to land his short, powerful punches without Montano being able to keep up with him. Read more

In a one-sided fight, WBO featherweight champion Steven Luevano (35-1, 15 KOs) defeated former kick boxer from Thailand Terdsak Jandaeng (29-3, 19 KOs) by 12-round unanimous decision at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. There was very little suspense in the fight other than in the fourth round when Luevano, 27, got careless was was knocked down by a short left hand from Jandaeng.

However, Luevano got up and survived the round, and continued his complete mastery of Jandaeng for the remaining eight rounds of the fight. The final judges’ scores were 118-109, 119-109 and 119-109, all for Luevano. Jandaeng’s face was badly swollen up around both eyes and his the right side of his eye was cut from the many jabs he absorbed from Luevano during the bout.

Luevano controlled the first two rounds, using his jab and movement to keep the harder punching - but limited - Dandaeng from connecting with his own harder, but slower shots. In the 2nd round, Jandaeng was cut on the corner of his right eye, and his face had already began to swell. Read more

by Nick Kelly: It was entitled ‘Unfinished Business’ but even after Michael Buffer announced the split decision scorecards we were no nearer to knowing who is the superior of Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao.

Ever since the synonymous draw between the two in 2004, arguments have raged that either fighter could and should have been the victor. Read more

Unbeaten junior middleweight James Moore, a native of County Wicklow, Ireland, who fights out of Queens, New York, took a big step forward by winning a hard fought unanimous decision over veteran J.C. Candelo of Colombia at Madison Square Garden’s WaMu Theater.

The two-way action by both fighters brought the pro-Moore crowd to its feet on many occasions. Moore, now 15-0 (10 KOS), was hurt by a right uppercut in the third round. Both fighters landed thunderous punches during many spirited exchanges and received a standing ovation at the end. Read more

Coming in at a career high of a plump 257 lbs, heavyweight contender Sinan Samil Sam (30-4, 16 KOs) destroyed 42 year-old Ratko Draskovic (28-7-2, 16 KOs) in the 2nd round of a scheduled 12-round bout for the WBC Mediterranean heavyweight title last night at the Zenith - Die Kulturhalle, in Munich, Bayern, Germany. After a rather uneventful first round, Draskovic was knocked down three times by Sam, 33, in the second round before referee Daniel Van de Wiele moved in and halted the one-sided slaughter. At the same time that the referee was stopping the bout, Draskovic’s corner was throwing in the towel in an effort to spare their fighter any more punishment from Sam.

Sam, who lost to Oliver McCall by decision last year in a WBC eliminator bout, looked to be in terrible shape last night, sporting a a huge pendulous belly, and looking as if he had trained little for the bout. As it turns out, Sam wouldn’t need much training to beat the 42 year-old Draskovic, who was out of he element against the power-punching Sam. Draskovic looked good in the opening moments of the first round as he used his jab to fend off Sam’s bull-like attacks. However, Sam soon began walking through Draskovic’s jabs and nailing him with uppercuts and chopping right hands to the head. Read more

Three time WBC super middleweight champion Markus Beyer (35-3-1, 13 KOs) defeated Russian middleweight Murat Mahmudov (16-4, 8 KOs) by a 8-round unanimous decision last night at the Zenith - Die Kulturhalle, in Munich, Bayern, Germany. The final judges’ scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 80-72, for Beyer. The bout was never remotely close and wasn’t supposed to be, for Beyer, 36, was making his first appearance in over a year since being destroyed in three rounds by Mikkel Kessler in October 2006.

Mostly, however, the southpaw Beyer was intent on avoiding getting upset by his slow, overmatched opponent because Beyer doesn’t want to mess up a potential bout with Roy Jones Jr., who was sitting at ringside to observe Beyer’s bout. Jones, 39, wants to fight Beyer next, a bout which will take place in Germany, where the fans wouldn’t seem to mind that Jones is well past his prime. Perhaps to them, it doesn’t matter, because Beyer is past his prime as well and isn’t considered championship material any longer at this late stage in his career. Jones, who earlier in his career was reluctant to come to Germany to fight German star light heavyweight Darius Michalzewski, he has now changed his tune now that he’s in the twilight of his once great career. Read more

By Nick Adams: Former 2004 heavyweight Olympic Gold medalist for the Cuban National team Odlanier Solis (8-0, 5 KOs) won an easy 10-round unanimous decision over American Cisse Salif (22-10-2, 20 KOs) on Friday night at the Zenith - Die Kulturhalle, in Munich, Bayern, Germany. Solis, 27, won every round of the fight quite easily, though he looked almost diminutive compared to the 6′4″ 265 lb. Salif, who took Solis’ best shots with relative ease. This was perhaps the only negative for Solis, in that he doesn’t appear to have the size to compete against the bigger heavyweights like Wladimir Klitschko and some of the other big heavyweights.

At 6′0″ 246 lb. Solis is both short and round, and with his recent weight loss of close to 1o lbs, he seems weaker than before. His style somewhat reminds me of a cross between Monte Barrett and a weak version of Lamon Brewster. I suppose that’s a compliment, for both of those fighters are good, but I still see Solis as nothing but a gate keeper as long as he stays in the heavyweight division. He badly needs to trim off the 40+ pounds of fat that he’s piled on since turning professional and defecting from Cuba to Germany. Read more

By Dan Ambrose: In the battle of the aging light heavyweights, 39 year-old former champion Antonio Tarver (26-4, 19 KOs) challenges 35 year-old IBF light heavyweight champion Clinton Woods for his title on April 12th at the St. Pete Times Forum, in Tampa, Florida. Tarver, ranked #4 in the IBF, has done little to earn a shot at Woods other than by fighting to a majority draw with Elvir Muriqi in June 2007, and six months later stopping a fighter named Danny Santiago in the 4th round in December. That’s not exactly impressive credentials for his last two fights, though if you go one fight deeper, Tarver lost his lightly regarded IBO light heavyweight championship in a 12-round lopsided decision to Bernard Hopkins in June 2006. Read more

By Aaron Klein: Hard-hitting undefeated bantamweight prospect Alex Mercado (5-0, 4 kOs) continued his unbeaten streak with a 4-round unanimous over the tough but game Joseph Rios (3-2, 1 KOs) last night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Rios, 26, was down late in the 2nd round after walking into a short right hand from Mercado. Luckily for Rios, the knockdown occurred late in the round, enabling him to escape without being knocked down again, though he did take a several more big shots from Mercado before the round ended. The final judges’ scores were 40-36, 39-36 and 39-36, for Mercado.

Mercado, 25, considered one of the best young prospects in the bantamweight division, came out slugging in the 1st round, hitting Rios with doubt hooks to the body and head. Mercado seemed to throw everything with knockout intentions, forgoing completely throwing jabs as he went all out in the first round, loading up with his shots. Read more

By Nate Anderson: In the latest boxing news, super middleweight contender Edison Miranda (30-2, 26 KOs) will be reportedly fighting Denmark’s Mikkel Kessler (39-1, 29 KOs), the former WBA/WBC super middleweight champion, on May 24th in Montreal, Canada. Miranda, 27, a one-time middleweight contender until late last year when he was stopped by Kelly Pavlik in a 7th round TKO, has been after Kessler for awhile now, trying to pressure him into a fight with him. Kessler up until today, had been ignoring Miranda’s rants to the media, instead looking for other alternatives for his first bout back since his defeat to super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe in November 2007.

However, after one particular nasty goading from Miranda this week, in which Miranda called Kessler a kitten, it appeared that Kessler had had enough and decided quickly on taking the fight with Miranda. It probably was a no-brainer for Kessler, for Miranda is one of the most popular non-champions in the division, perhaps even more popular than IBF super middleweight champion Lucian Bute. The cable networks are also interested in seeing the fight made, meaning that this will be a much better paying bout than what Kessler, now a non-champion, would get otherwise. Read more

Undefeated Women’s super bantamweight prospect Ana Julaton (3-0) defeated Clara De La Torre (1-4, 1 KOs) by a 4-round unanimous decision last night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Julaton, at 5′5″, was five inches shorter than De La Torre, but never let that bother her as she stayed in close for most of the fight hitting De La Torre with short combinations to the head.

In the first round, Julaton initially had problems as De La Torre, who towered over her in height, landed well from the outside with her long arms. However, the punches had nothing on them and were additionally incredibly slow as well. After realizing that there was nothing to fear from De La Torre, Julaton moved inside and stayed there, hitting De La Torre with an occasional big right hand to the head. Though Julaton’s shots didn’t have much power either, but they had enough for her to take the round despite the fact that she was getting outworked by De La Torre. Read more

By Eric Thomas: In another bad mismatch, heavyweight (41-1, 37 KOs) stopped Roderick Willis (14-3-1, 8 KOs) in the 1st round last night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Willis, 36, only had three days notice for the fight, and fought like it, as he was quickly run over by the 6′9″ 275 lb. Fields in the first. Though Willis did offer up an occasional right hand in his own defense, the southpaw Fields simply unloaded upon him with endless punches, ending with the referee Russell Mora stopping the fight as Willis was taking punishment against the ropes. Earlier in the round, Willis looked as if he may make a fight of it when he hit Fields with a couple of good shots.

However, Fields quickly backed him up against the ropes and then went left hand happy as he hit him with repeated left hands. It seemed as if the referee would stop it at any moment, for Willis was taking the shots without covering up. However, he moved off the ropes and backed up to the other side of the ring. Fields kept up the downpour of punches, though, not letting Willis get a break for an instant. Read more

In a fight that perhaps signals the end of one of the Pacquiao brothers, super featherweight contender Urbano Antillon (22-0, 15 KOs) KO’d Bobby Pacquiao (28-14-3, 13 KOs) with a big left hook to the midsection in the 1st round last night at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Pacquiao, 27, was unable to make it up from the knockdown and was counted out immediately by referee Joe Cortez at 2:49 of the round. Credit goes to Pacquiao for taking on Antillon, 25, a righter ranked #2 in the WBC super featherweight class.

Antillon was after Pacquiao from the opening bell, stalking him and landing mostly body shots whenever he came in range. Pacquiao, a powerful southpaw, however, kept a steady jab in his face and fired off occasional body shots. Just when it looked as if Pacquiao had made it out of the first round without much trouble, he was nailed with several hard punches while up against the ropes late in the round. Pacquiao quickly moved away, but took a big body shot and right uppercut to the head as he was sliding away, causing him to stumble slightly in the process. Read more

By Christofer Ferris: After watching former WBO cruiserweight champion Enzo Maccarinelli (28-2, 21 KOs) get blasted out in two vicious rounds by David Haye last Saturday night, I came to the conclusion that Maccarinelli was not only a poor champion but also not a particularly good fighter as well. Based on what I saw of him against Haye, he looks no better than top 10 in the cruiserweight division, no better than that. He fought almost foolishly as he went directly at Haye, who has a reputation for being incredibly dangerous in the early rounds of his fights.

It’s unclear whether Maccarinelli felt that he had enough power to get to Haye before he unloaded one of his big right hands on him or whether he was sacrficing himself in some wild suicidal attack. Whatever it was, Maccarinelli didn’t look in any way shape or form against Haye. I’d seen a few of Maccarinelli’s other bouts, ones against Wayne Braithwaite, Mohamed Azzaoui and Bobby Gunn, bouts in which Maccarinelli looked like a decent fighter. However, in each one of those fights, Maccarinelli looked more like a slugger without much defense than a truly skilled fighter. Read more

By Christofer Ferris: Judging by the huge outcry in the various boxing forums on the internet, few fans want to see former heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (35-2, 34 KOs) face WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter as his next opponent. It seems that the larger amount of people firmly want to see Vitali’s younger brother, Wladimir Klitschko (the current IBF heavyweight champion) fight Peter instead of Vitali. Why is that? Don’t they see that this is a type of fight that could possibly end up in a story book ending, with the 35 year-old Vitali, who hasn’t fought in three years, coming back and defeating Peter to regain the heavyweight championship. Read more

Former heavyweight contender (36-0, 29 KOs) reportedly has injured his shoulder while training, making it neccessary for him to cancel his next bout against Terry Smith on April 4th. Mesi, 34, is deeply disappointed because the bout was going to be shown on ESPN, and it would have been a good opportunity for Mesi to get some badly needed publicity for his comeback. The injury will require that Mesi take off between three weeks to a month to let his shoulder heal. No surgery will be required for the shoulder, which is one thing that Mesi has going for him. Read more