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By Chet Mills: Once beaten heavyweight prospect Jason Estrada (12-1, 2 KOs) earned a dull 10-round unanimous decision over journeyman fighter Lance Whitaker (32-5-1, 27 KOs) on Friday night at the Twin River Event Center, in Lincoln, Rhode Island. Estrada, 27, a former thee-time U.S. amateur super heavyweight champion from 2001-2004, as well as a super heavyweight for U.S. in the 2004 Olympic games in Athens, outclassed a badly weight-drained Whitaker, 35, who came into the fight at 239 lbs, a total of around 40-45 lbs away from his optimal weight of the mid 270s.

It’s unclear why Whitaker, an excellent puncher at 270, would suddenly decide he needed to take off a great deal of weight in order to compete against the younger heavyweights. Certainly, he hasn’t been doing well in recent years, but that has seemed more due to his limited boxing skills than because of his tremendous size. What his reasons, his drastic weight loss accomplished nothing for him other than making him weaker against the high volume puncher Estrada.

By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated super featherweight prospect Argenis Mendez (11-0, 8 KOs) had a much tougher than expected time in the process of defeating the tough Mexican Oscar De La Cruz (5-5, 2 KOs) by fifth round TKO on Friday night at the Aviator Sports Arena, in Brooklyn, New York.

Mendez, a former 2004 Olympian for the Dominican Republic Olympic team, had to overcome fierce resistance from Cruz, 31, taking a lot of punishment from before stopping him with a flurry of punches in the 5th round. Mendez, who had a an impressive amateur record of 238-12, was fought almost to a standstill by the game Cruz, who kept coming forward all fight long, pressuring the tall 5’10” Mendez, and forcing him to trade on the inside where he was less adept than Cruz.

By Nate Anderson: EBU (European) lightweight champion Yuri Romanov (21-2, 14 KOs) sliced up a game but limited Jon Thaxton (33-8, 18 KOs), defeating him by a 6th round TKO when Thaxton’s corner stopped the fight due to a severe cut over his right eye on Friday night at the York Hall, Bethnal Green, in London. Thaxton, 33, didn’t have his BBCofC British lightweight title on the line, and it lucky for him, because he was never in this fight. Thaxton made it mildly interesting in the first three rounds of the fight, exchanging fiercely with Romanov. However, Thaxton suffered a bad cut over his right eye, a result of a hard right hand from Romanov, and from then on it was only a matter of time before the referee stopped the fight.

Finally, at the end of the 5th round, with Thaxton bleeding all over the place from his deep cut, his corner stepped in and asked that the fight be stopped. Referee Massimo Barrovecchio then waited until Thaxton came out for the sixth round, before officially stopping the one-sided bout.

By Aaron Klein: Undefeated light welterweight prospect Lee Purdy (7-0, 3 KOs) made short work of Jamie Spence (4-2, 2 KOs), on Friday night, winning by a 1st round TKO of a six round scheduled bout at the York Hall, in Bethnal Green, London. Purdy, a fighter with very heavy hands, was coming into this fight having knocked out his last opponent Craig Dyer in 107 seconds of the 1st round, showing Purdy’s enormous power. Spence, unfortunately for him, didn’t last much longer as Purdy immediately tore into him as soon as the fight started.

With both fighters trading tremendous shots, Purdy suddenly landed a big right hand that dropped Spence who fell awkwardly face first on the canvas. He got up and received a standing eight count but it seemed almost certain that he wouldn’t be able to make it out of the round in one piece. As soon as the fight resumed, Purdy was all over Spence, landing an unanswered storm of punches ending with a big right hand that staggered Spence causing the referee Marcus McDonnell to step in and halt the fight with Spence still on his feet, looking badly hurt and unable to walk without staggering.

By Manuel Perez: In perhaps the most exciting fight of the night, lightweight prospect David Rodela (9-1-2, 5 KOs) stopped previously unbeaten prospect Ramon Ayala (8-1, 3 KOs) in the 4th round of a scheduled 6-round bout at the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, in Cabazon, California on Friday night. In the 4th round, Ayala, 19, had just landed a flurry of uppercuts to the head of Rodela, and appeared to be in control of the round, when Rodela suddenly fired a back a a three-punch combination ending with a powerful right hand that dropped Ayala to the canvas, flat on his back.

By Chet Mills: Unbeaten welterweight prospect Mike Jones (13-0, 12 KOs) had to struggle to defeat veteran Germain Sanders (27-6, 17 KOs) by a 8-round unanimous decision on Friday night ESPN fights at the Seneca Allegheny Casino & Hotel, in Salamanca, New York. The final judges’ scores were 78-74, 78-74 and 78-74. I personally had the fight scored a draw. Jones, a knockout puncher and considered one of the top prospects in the welterweight division, seemed out of his element when Sanders didn’t fold in the early rounds of the fight.

By Chet Mills: Former IBF light middleweight champion Kassim Ouma (25-5-1, 15 KOs) was defeated by former star from The Contender reality television series Cornelius Bundrage (28-3, 16 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision on Friday night at the Seneca Allegheny Casino & Hotel, in Salamanca, New York. It was spectacular but Brundige, 34, did just enough to squeak by with victory, in large part due to his good early start in the fight. Bundrage, an over-muscled with a huge upper body and little tree twig legs, started out well in the first round as he landed hard right hands. Not a particularly powerful puncher, despite all his muscles, Bundrage still has good power in his right hand. His lack of hand speed and mobility, not to mention his lack of a left hand, are probably his biggest problems.

Ouma, however, couldn’t take advantage of Bundrage’s limitations because he wasn’t letting his hands go enough to push him in the fight. As such, Bundrage easily won the first round with his right hand. Bundrage held his left hand way out in front of his as an exaggerated guard, but in reality he used it to keep Ouma at a distance by pushing him with his left every time he tried to get in punching range. This allowed Bundrage to control the distance while at the same time serving as a measuring stick with which to aim his slow right hand shots.

By Eric Thomas: In what some people felt would be an easy victory for previously unbeaten featherweight prospect Juanito Garcia (14-1, 5 KOs) ended up being an easy knockout victory for his opponent 29 year-old Cornelius Lock (17-3-1, 10 KOs), who stopped him in the 4th round on Saturday night at the Expo Center, in the City of Industry, California.

By Scott Gilfoid: Undefeated British light middleweight Danny Reynolds (12-0, 7 KOs) easily destroyed his overmatched opponent Jason Rushton (17-5, 3 KOs) in a 1st round TKO on Saturday night at the Metrodome, Barnsley, in Yorkshire to win the BBBofC Central Area light middleweight title. Reynolds, 29, blitzed Rushton early and often, knocking him down three times in the round before the fight was ultimately stopped by the referee immediately after the 3rd knockdown.