SPORTS SHORTS 277: BOXING YEARENDER 2021 PART II
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 27 Dec 2021
John Riel Casimero retained his WBO world bantamweight title defeating Guillermo Rigondeaux by split decision at the Dignity Health Sports Park in California. The scores were 117-111, 116-112 and 113-115. They had a combined 91 punches landed, the lowest total for a 12-round fight, according to CompuBox.
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Yordenis Ugas replaced Errol Spence, Jr., who was forced to withdraw from his August 21 title fight against Manny Pacquiao because of a retinal tear in his left eye. Ugas held the WBA (Regular) title from 2020 until he was elevated to Super champion when Pacquiao was declared "WBA Champion in Recess".
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Yordenis Ugas, who accepted the fight on 11 days' notice, scored a unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao at T-Mobile Arena to retain his WBA Super welterweight title, in an upset victory. The scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 116-112 all in favor of Ugas, who was a 4-1 underdog. Ugas landed 151 total punches to Pacquiao's 130.
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Mark "Magnifico" Magsayo stopped Mexican warrior Julio Ceja in Las Vegas, Nevada. He was behind on all three scorecards entering the 10th round of their WBC featherweight elimination match on the Pacquiao-Ugas undercard. Magsayo hit Ceja with a solid right hand early in the 10th round that made Ceja unconscious.
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Just as the Philippines celebrated its finest Olympic performance with a gold, two silver and a bronze, we lost one of our Olympic hero in Leopoldo Serantes who died on September 1, 2021 at age of 59 due to chronic pulmonary disease. Serantes was a bronze medalist at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
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Manny Pacquiao says goodbye to boxing, the sport that gave him billions of money and made him a celebrity worldwide when he accepted the party nomination for presidential candidate in the 2022 national elections. He clarified however he will continue guiding the career of promising Pinoy boxers who wish to follow his footsteps.
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Oleksandr Usyk, the former undisputed cruiserweight champion scored a shocking unanimous decision victory dethroning Anthony Joshua to become the IBF, WBO, WBA and IBO world heavyweight champion at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, London, England. The scores were 115-113, 116-112 and 117-112.
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WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder for the second time in their trilogy with a knockout in the 11th round at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. Fury went down twice in the fourth round and Wilder was floored in the 3rd round, in the 10th round and in the 11th, and the referee stopped the fight.
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Albert Pagara, freed on bail after being accused of molestation, buckled down to training with Edmund Villamor, who was once his coach at the now inoperative ALA Gym. He commenced training at the Villamor Brothers Gym hoping for a ring comeback.
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Presidents Maurcio Sulaiman of the WBC, Gilberto Jesus Mendoza of the WBA, Daryl Peoples of the IBF and Francisco "Paco" Valcarcel of the WBO met at the WBO headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico. They discussed several concerns and the role each organization can contribute to improve the sport.
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Jonas Sultan scored an upset win over previously undefeated Carlos Caraballo of Puerto Rico. The three judges scored 94-93 in favor of Sultan who sent Caraballo to the floor four times while surviving his own knockdown in the third enroute to a surprise victory at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden, New York City.
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Saul "Canelo" Álvarez knocks out Caleb Plant in the 11th round to win the undisputed supermiddleweight championship before a mostly pro-Canelo sellout crowd of 16,586 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas, Nevada. It was the first time Canelo ever collected all four belts in one weight class.
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Terence Crawford is called "the most devastating finisher in the sport" and the undefeated three-division champion stopped former welterweight champion Shawn Porter in the 10th round of their WBO welterweight title fight at Mandalay Bay Resort, Las Vegas Strip, Paradise, Nevada.
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Mike "Magic" Plania scores his 11th straight win against Ricardo “El Matematico” Nuñez in the very first round in their non-title bout as he establishes himself as a strong contender for a shot at the world super bantamweight title at the Manuel Artime Community Center Theater in Miami, Florida.
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George Kambosos, Jr., once hired by Manny Pacquiao as one of his sparring partners for the matches against Jeff Horn and Adrien Broner, was a heavy underdog but upset Teofimo Lopez by split decision to seize the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and The Ring titles with the scores 115-111, 115-112, 113-114 at Madison Square Garden.
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Charly Suarez proved why he is a three-time Southeast Asian Games gold medalist by dominating previously unbeaten Delmar Pellio, 99-89, 99-89, 100-88 in the “Ultimate Knockout Challenge” at the Elorde Sports Center in Parañaque City in a 10-round super featherweight bout
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John Riel Casimero withdrew from his mandatory defense against England's Paul Butler. The fight was scheduled at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Casimero's cutman Stephen Lunas posted on Facebook that the Ormoc native suffers "viral gastritis" which made him unable to attend the weigh-in.
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Nonito Donaire defended his WBC bantamweight title by knocking out countryman Reymart Gaballo at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California. Donaire won by a magnificent fourth-round knockout over WBC interim bantamweight champion Gaballo to retain his WBC world bantamweight title belt.
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Marlon Tapales pulled off a convincing victory when he stopped Hiroaki Teshigawara at the Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, California in the IBF junior featherweight eliminator. Tapales floored Teshigawara twice in the first round and once in the second round to win by knockout on the undercard of the Donaire vs Gaballo fight.
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WBA world minimumweight champion Vic “Vicious” Saludar was dethroned by Erick “Mini” Pacman Pacheco Rosa by split decision. It was Saludar’s first title defense after wresting the vacant WBA world minimumweight title in February this year against fellow Filipino Robert Paradero via split decision.
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Donnie Nietes retained his WBO international super flyweight title after a split draw with Norbelto Jimenez in their 10-rounder match. The judges scored it 96-94 Nietes, 96-94 Jimenez, and 95-95 allowing the former four-division champion to keep his belt at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.
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Jayson Mama failed to seize his first world title, losing to IBF flyweight champion Sunny Edwards via unanimous decision at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. Edwards, who was fighting his first title defense, survived a nasty cut early in the fight and earned the approval of the three judges, 117-110, 118-109, 118-109.
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The junior bantamweight unification bout between IBF champion Jerwin Ancajas and WBO title holder Kazuto Ioka is postponed due to Japan’s closed border policy because of the coronavirus Omicron variant. The bout had been scheduled for New Year’s Eve at the Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from me, my wife Chona, and kids Mallory, Marton and Marlon.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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