Lucian Bute (21-0, 17 KOs) remained unbeaten on Friday night as he stopped Colombian Alejandro Berrio (26-5, 25 KOs) in the 11th round at the Bell Centre, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The southpaw Bute, 27, led all the way, jabbing constantly and moving on the outside to stay away from the knockout artist Berrio. Despite sporting two badly swollen eyes, Bute connected with two powerful left hooks to drop an exhausted Berrio in the 11th round. Referee Marlon Wright moved in and put a halt to the bout. Berrio stalked Bute round after round, landing an occasional bomb whenever Bute would remain stationary long enough for Berrio to connect. However, Bute’s fighting style was all wrong for Berrio, who prefers his opponents to stand in front of him rather than the hit and run type that Bute more closely resembles.
In the early rounds, Bute used stinging combinations and a accurate jab to keep Berrio on the outside. Berrio remained patient, looking as if he knew that he would catch up to Bute sooner or later. However, by the 8th round Berrio was now looking desperate, as he was trailing badly by that time.
Heavyweight Juan Carlos Gomez (43-1, 35 KOs) dominated the 42-year old Oliver McCall (51-9, 36 KOs) beating him by 12-round unanimous decision at the Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, in Berlin, Germany. The final judges’ scores were 116-112, 118-110 and 118-110, giving Gomez the victory. Strangely enough, this was the second time that Gomez has beaten the forty year old McCall, having beaten him two years ago by unanimous decision only to have the victory ruled a no-contest when drugs showed up in his urine after the fight. This time, however, the victory was even easier as the southpaw Gomez controlled the action with his long jab and straight left hand. 
Former 2004 heavyweight Olympic gold medalist for the Cuban team, Odlanier Solis (5-0, 4 KOs) obliterated American Jeremy Bates (21-15-1, 18 KOs) in the 2nd round tonight at the Estrel Convention Center, Neukoelln, in Berlin, Germany. Using mostly uppercuts and powerful body shots, Solis pounded away at Bates, 33, knocking him down in the 1st round, and then hurting him badly in the 2nd round with a devastating right uppercut that sent him to the ropes where the referee moved in and halted the bout. 
Former World Boxing Council heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko, who has now been injured causing the five consecutive delays in bouts, is now set to fight the winner of Oleg Maskaev vs Samuel Peter, a bout which takes place in February 2008. However, With Vitali’s Emeritus status (read: unearned) as a mandatory challenger, the questiuon remains whether he can stay healthy enough to ever make the bout with the winner. His back, knee and shoulder has proven to be quite fragile as his career has progressed, especially in recent years as he’s aged. Now, at 37 – make it 38 by the time he fights the winner of Maskaev-Peter – it remains questionable that he can even make out of his training camps in one piece without injuring himself badly. A large part of the blame lays with him, for he was injured in 2005 while running in cold weather in Germany.
With little more than two weeks to go before the Super middleweight showdown between undefeated World Boxing Organization super middleweight champion Joe Calzaghe (43-0, 32 KOs) and World Boxing Association and World Boxing Council super middleweight champion Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KOs) the big question that comes to mind for many is whether Calzaghe will have the power to keep the younger, stronger Kessler on the outside where he’s much less effective. The bout, which takes place at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, in Wales, will be a factor in the 35-year old Calzaghe’s favor, however, it’s not clear how much the crowd can assist Calzaghe in the way of his lack of power. Calzaghe, a fighter mainly noted for being an excellent slapper, has never had the kind of knockout power that Kessler possesses, and has been lucky up to this point in his career, only having to face mostly weaker, mediocre fighters. 
Welterweight contender Alfonso Gomez (18-3-2, 8 KOs) won a harder than expected unanimous decision over former lightweight start Ben Tackie (29-8-1, 17 KOs) on Tuesday night at the Home Depot Center, in Carson, California. Gomez, 26, a former fighter from the reality television series “The Contender” controlled virtually every round of the fight as he outworked the older 34-year old Tackie with a high volume punch out. However, though Tackie landed far less punches, his more powerful shots badly marked up Gomez’s face and him in full retreat in the last two rounds of the fight. The final judges’ scores were 98-92, 98-92, 97-93, awarding Gomez the decision. 
One time heavyweight champion John Ruiz (42-7-1, 29 KOs) won an impressive two round knockout over Otis Tisdale on Saturday night at the Sears Centre, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. Ruiz, ranked #3 in the WBA, showing a new offensive-minded fighting style – minus his usual clinching – knocked Tisdale down twice in the first round and once in the 2nd, before the referee Pete Podgorsk moved in and stopped the bout at 0:45 of the 2nd round. Ruiz, 35, was all action in the bout, using massive uppercuts, hooks, movement and a powerful right hand to control virtually every second of the bout with the out-gunned Tisdale. 
Former International Boxing Federation lightweight champion Julio Diaz’s (34-4, 25 KOs) busy fighting style was no match for the hard-punching World Boxing Organization and World Boxing Association lightweight champion Juan Diaz (33-0, 17 KOs) who blasted him round after round with multiple combinations until Julio ultimately quit at the beginning of the 9th round on Saturday night at the Sears Centre, in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. With the win, the 24-year old Juan Diaz adds the IBF lightweight title to his collection of belts, clearly showing that he’s the dominant fighter in the lightweight division. 
The outcome was never in doubt on Saturday night, as the 32-year old World Boxing Organization heavyweight champion literally boxed circles around the 44-year old challenger Evander Holyfield in the process of winning by an easy 12-round unanimous decision at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia. The final judges’ scores – 118-110, 117-111 and 117-111 – gave no indication about how truly one-sided the bout was for Ibragimov, as Holyfield did virtually nothing all bout long except for follow him around and take shots to the head and midsection. In truth, Holyfield looked basically the same fighter he was in losing efforts to Chris Byrd, James Toney and Larry Donald in 2003 and 2004, only then Holyfield blamed the losses because of a shoulder a problem. 
Cruiserweight challenger Vadim Tokarev (24-1-1, 17 KOs) stopped former middleweight Marlon Hayes (23-10, 11 KOs) in the 3rd round tonight at the Khodynka Ice Palace, in Moscow, Russia. Tokarev, 35, hurt Hayes with a right hand in the third round, staggering him and then landed a series of crushing blows that prompted the referee to move in and put a stop to the bout. This was the first bout for Tokarev since losing a controversial majority decision to German-based Marco Huck in May 2007. Tokarev was in fine form tonight, showing no ill effects of the bad decision that went against him in his last fight, as he punished Hayes badly in rounds two and three.