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By Jason Kim: After two long years, former heavyweight contender Kirk Johnson (36-2-1, 26 KOs) will be making a comeback on February 7th against journeyman Dan Sheehan (11-36, 5 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout at the Masonic Temple, in Norfolk, Virginia. Johnson, 36, hasn’t seen action since March 2006, a bout in which Johnson dislocated his knee in the 7th round, resulting in the fight being stopped and a no decision given.

By Erik Schmidt: In a battle of former Olympians, Italian welterweight prospect Michele Di Rocco (21-1-1, 9 KOs) defeated Janos Petrovics (14-21, 7 KOs) by an six-round decision on Friday night at the Palasport di Via Austria, Grosseto, in Toscana, Italy. Di Rocco, 26, nicknamed “The King,” fought for Italy as a Light Welterweight at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, dominated the 37 year-old Petrovics, a 1992 Olympian for the Hungary team. The fight was for the most part one-sided, as Di Rocco used a high volume offense, which included a lot of short flurries, to defeat Petrovic over the six rounds.

By Erik Schmidt: Making his first defense of his EBU (European) light welterweight title, Italian Gianluca Branco (42-2-1, 22 KOs) defeated challenger Juho Tolppola (21-5-1, 9 KOs) in a 9th round TKO after the fight was stopped due to swelling on the fight side of Tolppola’s head on Friday night at the PalaLido, in Milan, Lombardia, Italy. Branco, 38, struggled throughout the fight against Tolppola, from Finland, having problems dealing with his combinations.

By Dan Ambrose: Once beaten Canadian heavyweight prospect Bermane “B. WARE” Stiverne (16-1, 16 KOs) destroyed American Lyle McDowell (27-12-1, 18 KOs) in the first round on Saturday night of a scheduled eight-round bout on the undercard of Evander Holyfield vs. Nikolay Valuev at Hallenstadion, in Zurich, Switzerland. After a dull first two rounds of the fight in which both fighters stood staring at each other, barely moving and posing a lot, Stiverne suddenly landed a big left hand, hurting McDowell badly.

By Nate Anderson: EBU (European) super bantamweight champion Rendall Munroe (17-1, 8 KOs) stopped Italian challenger Fabrizio Trotta (13-5-2, 4 KOs) in the 5th round of a scheduled 12-round bout on Thursday night at the Dublin City University, in Dublin, Ireland. The fight was stopped in the 5th after Trotta injured his hand after connecting with a right uppercut to the head of Munroe. At the time of the stoppage, Munroe was punishing Trotta with powerful body shots and wearing him down.

By Brad Clark: Pete ‘The Choirboy’ Leworthy is set for the biggest test of career when he takes on Shaun ‘Slasher’ Walton. The 24-year-old boxer from Bristol enters the ring as a professional for the third time this Saturday in front of none other than Ricky Hatton. However, Leworthy has reasons for performing well other than impressing The Hitman.

By Nate Anderson: Undefeated middleweight Darren Barker (19-0, 12 KOs) successfully defended his Commonwealth (British Empire) middleweight title on Saturday night, stopping challenger Jason McKay (20-3, 2 KOs) in the 6th round at the International Centre, Brentwood, in Essex. The fight was stopped after the 6th round by McKay’s corner due to swelling under both of his eyes. Up until the stoppage, McKay had taken sustained punishment in the fight from Barker and was hurt on a number of occasions by big right hands from him.

By Daniel Cann: In a stirring contest filled with drama and incident Belfast’s Brian Magee finally lifted the British Super-Middleweight belt vacated by new WBC World Champion Carl Froch. In Glenrothes’ Stevie McGuire he faced a determined but inexperienced foe whose fourteen fights amounted to less than half of the fights Magee had amassed in a career spanning almost ten years. What he lacked in experience the twenty seven year old McGuire more than made up for in raw courage and determination and Magee had his hands full for much of the duration of the contest.

By Nate Anderson: Light middleweight prospect Matthew Hall (21-1, 14 KOs) defeated Jason Rushton (18-8, 3 KOs) by a 6th round TKO on Friday night at the Kingsway Leisure Centre, Widnes, in Cheshire, England. Hall, 24, knocked Rushton down once in the 4th round and another time in the 6th. After the second knockdown, the fight was stopped by referee Mickey Vann at 1:19 of the 6th.

By Erik Schmidt: Previously unbeaten super featherweight Vitali Tajbert (17-1, 6 KOs) undefeated string finally ran out against EBU (European) super featherweight Sergey Gulyakevich (26-1, 12 KOs) on Friday night, when Tajbert was defeated by a 12-round unanimous decision at the Sporthalle Brandberge, Halle an der Saale, in Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany. The final judges’ scores were 117-112, 117-112 and 115-113. Having to deal with a four and half inch height disadvantage, the 5’5 1/2″ Tajbert found the going tough against the long armed 5’10” Gulyakevich, who often bombed him at a distance and was able to stay away from many of Tajbert’s big shots.