By Ken Hissner: Before a sold out crowd at the Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates Saturday over DAZN Oscar De La Hoya (Golden Boy Promotions), Eddie Hearn (Matchroom Boxing) and Zurdo Promotions presented in the Main Event WBA Super World Light Heavyweight champion Dimitry Bivol easily defeated in his ninth defense the previously unbeaten former WBO Super Middleweight champion Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez over 12 rounds. In the Co-Main Event IBF and WBC Super Lightweight champion Chantelle “Il Capo” Cameron easily defeated two division and current IBF, WBA, WBC, WBA and IBO Welterweight champion Jessica “CasKILLA” McCaskill.
In the Main Event WBA Super World Light Heavy champ Dmitry Bivol, 21-0 (11), #174 ¾, of Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan, and Indio, CA, dominated former WBO Super Middle champ southpaw Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, 44-1 (30), #174 ¾, of Mazatlan, Sinaloa, MEX, over 12 rounds.
In the first rounds halfway point the first solid punch landed by Bivol a right on the chin of Ramirez. In the final thirty seconds a solid jab from Ramirez knocked the head of Bivol back. In the final seconds Bivol landed a solid right on the chin. In the second and third rounds it was close with Ramirez using an effective jab. In the fourth rounds ending of first minute Boval got the attention of Ramirez with a right to the chin.
In the fifth round midway Bivol rocked Ramirez with a right on the chin. Bivol continued being more aggressive though most of the fight is in the middle of the ring. In the seventh rounds first minute Bivol drove Ramirez into a corner with a solid right on the chin followed by a left hook. The bigger Ramirez finished a bit stronger but not good enough to win the round.
In the eighth rounds final minute Bivol had Ramirez against the ropes landing half a dozen unanswered punches. In the ninth rounds final minute Bivol coming off the ropes landed over a dozen unanswered punches mostly to the chin of Ramirez. In the tenth round Bivol seemed to take the round off allowing Ramirez to outscore him.
In the eleventh round after half a minute Bivol opened up landing a flurry of punches to the chin of Ramirez who continued to seem to lack pulling the trigger. In the twelfth and final round Ramirez knowing he needs a knockout came out aggressive. Near the end of the first minute Bivol landed over a half dozen unanswered punches. In the final seconds both were throwing punches. The Referee was Luis Pabon of Puerto Rico.
Scores were 118-110, 117-111 twice and 118-110 by this writer. This makes it hard not to have Bivol P4P No. 1.
In the Co-Main Event IBF and WBC Super Light champ Chantelle “Il Capo” Cameron, 17-0 (8), #139 ½, of Northampton, UK, easily defeated two division world champ and current WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF, IBO Welterweight champ Jessica “CasKILL” McCaskill, 12-3 (5), #139 ½, of Chicago, IL, over 10×2 rounds, for the vacant IBO, WBA and WBO titles.
In the first round McCaskill came out the aggressor throwing wild punches until a clash of heads put a lump later reported on the left side of the forehead of McCaskill. In a clinch she took a pair of punches behind the head without warning from Referee Jerald Tomelen. The rest of the round Cameron controlled with a jab.
The second and third rounds McCaskill did not look steady on her feet. In the fourth round the referee finally warned Cameron for hitting behind the head. Cameron continued outworking McCaskill. In the fifth rounds final seconds both fighters were landing punches at the bell.
In the sixth round it was the closest while Cameron who has been boxing well still may have had the edge. In the seventh round Cameron suffered a small cut on the bridge of her nose though having the better of the action.
In the ninth round both boxers landed some solid punches with Cameron having the edge. In the tenth and final round both had their moments with McCaskill landing her best punch of the fight halfway through a right on the chin of Cameron who once again won the round.
Scores were 97-93, 96-94 and 99-91 by this writer.
Super Feather No. 1 ranked southpaw Shavkatdzhon “Shere Kahn” Rakhimov, 17-0-1 (14), #130, of Bokhtar, Tajikistan, having been dropped and behind on the cards stopped No. 2 ranked Zelfa “Brown Flash” Barrett, 28-2 (16), #130, of Manchester, UK, at 2:35 of round nine of a scheduled 12 for the vacant IBF World Super Feather title.
In the first two rounds Barrett easily took them with uppercuts and jabs countering the oncoming Rakhimov who couldn’t cut off the ring. In the third round Barrett rocked Rakhimov midway with a right on the chin. In the final minute Barrett flurried having Rakhimov on the ropes with body shots. With half a minute remaining Barrett dropped Rakhimov with a right uppercut on the chin that Rakhimov got up immediately for an 8-count from Referee Mark Nelson. Rakhimov though finished the final seconds strong.
In the fifth round Barrett’s foot and hand speed dominated hurting Rakhimov midway with a right to the mid-section. He hurt Rakhimov late in the round with a combination to the chin. In the sixth round Rakhimov finally got Barrett in a corner landing three left uppercuts to the body. Barrett controlled the remainder of the round with his jab.
In the seventh round it was more competitive but Barrett continued controlling with both landing punches after the round. In the ninth round Barrett seemed to have a problem with his left leg when Rakhimov dropped him in a corner with the legs giving out from Barrett for an 8-count from referee Nelson. In the final minute Rakhimov again dropped Barrett with a final body shot as the towel was thrown in causing referee Nelson to call a halt.
2021 Olympic Gold Medalist and WBC International Fly champ southpaw Galal Yafai, 3-0 (2), #112, of Birmingham, UK, won a split decision over Gohan Rodriguez, 12-2-1 (1), #111, of Gomez Palacio, Durango, MEX, over 10 rounds.
In the first three rounds the aggressor Yafai had the edge. In the fourth Rodriguez came back enough to take a close round. In the fifth through the seventh rounds Yafai continued to outscore Rodriguez chasing him down.
In the eighth round the light hitting Rodriguez continued coming in low against the taller Yafai getting hit with uppercuts. In the ninth round Yafai suffered a slight abrasion on his left eyebrow losing the round. In the tenth and final round Yafai continued putting on the pressure outscoring Rodriguez who seemed fatigued. The Referee was Jerald Tomelan.
Scores were 96-94 Yafai, 96-95 Rodriguez and 96-95 Yafai with this writer 98-92 Yafai.
Super Light former 3x National champ Majid “Cerastes” Naqbi, 7-1 (4), #137 ¾, of Dubai, UAE, lost to John “Equalizer” Lawrence Ordonio, 8-4-1 (4), #139, of San Fernando City, PH, over 004 rounds.
In the first round it was all Ordonio driving Naqbi backwards. In the second round it was closer but for Ordonio with Naqbi the only local on the card getting support from crowd. In the third round Naqbi came back well taking the round. In the fourth and final round it was Naqbi starting to showboat though getting beat midway for a short period. The rest of the round was close.
Scores were 40-36 twice and 39-37 as did this writer.
2008 Olympian and former WBA Super Fly champ now at Bantam Khalid “Kal” Yafai, 27-1 (15), #120 ¾, of West Midland, UK, came off the canvas to defeat Jerald “The Predator” Paclar, 16-6-3 (9), #117 ½, of Illigan City, PH, over 10 rounds.
In the first round returning after 20 months in losing title Yafai was shocked inside the final minute when a right from Paclar on the chin and down went Yafai for an 8-count from Referee Luis Pabon. He managed to get to the bell mostly holding.
In the second round Yafai was boxing well with occasional left hooks. Paclar did not come out after him considering dropping him in the previous round. With half a minute remaining an overhand right from Paclar stunned Yafai who held on but landed the final two left hooks to the chin of Paclar at the bell.
In the third round’s final forty seconds Paclar rocked Yafai with a right and continued punching to the bell as Yafai managed to get through it. In the fourth round Yafai controlled the action rocking Paclar with a left hook on the chin with half a minute remaining knocking him back several steps. Yafai took the fifth round though landing a low blow dropping Paclar at the midway point.
After taking the sixth and seventh rounds Yafai in the eighth and ninth rounds did quite a bit of holding. In the tenth and final round it was Paclar finishing the stronger of the two. Yafai was the aggressor for the most part.
Scores were 96-93 twice and 95-94 as did this writer.
Ring Announcer David Diamante.