THE PAST WEEK IN ACTION 18 JANUARY 2026: Nikita Tszyu-Michael Zerafa End in No Contest; Raul Curiel Outpoints Jordan Panthen
By Eric Armit
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 19 Jan 2026
HIGHLIGHTS:
-Huge fight between Nikita Tszyu and Michael Zerafa is ruled No Contest before the start of the third round when Zerafa reports difficulty with his eyesight
- On the same show there are wins for Liam Wilson and Demsey McKean
-In Palm Springs Raul Curiel outpoints late substitute Jordan Panthen and there are wins for Jorge Chavez, John Ramirez and Ruslan Abdullaev
MAJOR SHOWS:
JANUARY 16
BOONDALL, AUSTRALIA: MIDDLE: NIKITA TSZYU (11-0,1 NC) NC 3 MICHAEL ZERAFA (34-5, 1 NC). HEAVY: STEVAN IVIC (8-0-1) W PTS 10 LIAM TALIVAA (7-2). SUPER FEATHYER: LIAM WILSON (18-3) W KO 4 RODEX PIALA (12-2). HEAVY: DEMSEY McKEAN (24-2) W TKO 7 TOESE VOUSIUTU (8-3). MIDDLE: BLAKE WELLS (13-2) W TEC DEC 9 AINIWAER YILIXIATI (20-3).
Tszyu vs. Zerafa
Huge controversy as this massive fight for Australian boxing ends in a No Contest after Zerafa asserts he has difficulty seeing before the start of the third round. Zerafa looked marginally quicker in the first moving smartly and firing punches. Tszyu was content to walk Zerafa down just probing with his jab and not really letting his hands go and Zerafa looked to have edged the round. Tszyu was a bit livelier in the second. Both were tending to lunge in and there was a clash of heads with Zerafa cut over his left eye. The action picked up with both throwing punches and having some success. When the bell went for the third round both left there corners but the referee took Zerafa over the be examined by the ring physician. Zerafa seemed to say to the doctor that he could not see. The doctor put his hand over Zerafa’s right eye, leaving only his left open, and again Zerafa seemed to say he could not see. The doctor shrugged his shoulders and said to the referee “He can’t see” so the fight could not continue. The actual cut was on the eyelid of Zerafa’s left eye and was quite small. Certainly not enough on its own to merit a stoppage but there was no associated swelling or bruising. The fight was only two rounds old and other than the cut Zerafa had not been shaken or hurt. It was a hugely important fight for both boxers but significantly so for Zerafa who, at 33, needed a win to have a viable future. The crowd, which were mostly Tszyu supporters, were incensed as they could not identify any reason for Zerafa not fighting on and Zerafa was showered with rubbish as he left the ring. A controversial ending is usually the prelude to a return fight but Zerafa is under such a cloud that it is not certain there will be any call for a return.
Ivic vs. Talivaa
IVIC retains the national title with a decision over TALIVAA. This was a close fight from the start. The 6’4” Ivic was trying to use his jab to keep southpaw Taliva out and landing hard counters including a hurtful uppercut in the third. Taliva kept pressing and it turned into an entertaining scrap with plenty of fierce exchanges. A strong finish over the ninth and tenth saw Taliva seem to do just enough to deserve the decision but it went to Ivic on a majority decision 96-94 twice and 95-95. Second successful defence for Ivic.
Wilson vs. Piala
WILSON retains the WBO International title as he puts Filipino PIALA away in the second round with a body shot. A slow start saw Wilson just do enough to take the opening round but he was shaken by an overhand right at the start of the second. Wilson then took control with some accurate jabbing and plenty of pressure but Piala remained dangerous, Wilson ended it in style in the fourth as he drove Piala to the ropes and landed a vicious left hook to the body. Piala went down in agony and had no chance of beating the count. Wilson lost inside the distance against Emmanuele Navarette for the vacant WBO super feather title and Oscar Valdez for the interim title. He has won his last 5 fights and is No 3 with the WBO so another shot at Navarette is still a possibility. Piala made it interesting for a couple of rounds.
McKean vs. Vousiutu
McKEAN stops a game VOUSIUTU in the seventh
McKean had 5” in height and plenty of reach on his side and Vousiutu was looking to get inside and turn the fight into a brawl. When he used his advantages McKean was able to score with clubbing shots but Vousiutu was tough. McKean slowly broke down his fellow-Australian from the fifth and Vousiutu was badly shaken in the sixth. A sustained attack from McKean in the seventh saw the referee stop the fight. Second win for McKean since his he was blown away in one round by Moses Itauma in December 2024. Vousiutu had lost on points again Stevan Ivic for the Australian title in May.
Wells vs. Yilixiati
WELLS scores a technical decision victory over China’s YILIXIATI when Yilixiati is unable continue due to a cut. Southpaw Wells was forced to fight on the back foot as the smaller Yilixiati barrelled forward in round after round head down firing short hooks. Wells boxed cleverly meeting Yilixiati with jabs and counters and good lateral movement. Heads were colliding and Yilixiati was cut over his left eye in the third but it was a clash of heads in the ninth that ended the fight. That clash opened a gash over Yilixiati’s right eye and he was unable to continue. It went to the cards and Wells won on scores of 88-83,88-84 and 87-84. Wells wins the vacant IBF Pan Pacific title. He had scored his best victory to date when he outpointed 21-1 IBF title challenger Andrei Mikhailovich in April.
and a spot in the world's top 15. Yilixiati is 0-3 in fights outside of China previously having lost to Jayde Mitchell and Kieron Conway.
PALM SPRINGS, CA, USA: WELTER: RAUL CURIEL (17-0-1) W PTS 10 JORDAN PANTHEN (11-2). SUPER BANTAM: JORGE CHAVEZ (15-0-1) W PTS 10 MANUEL FLORES (20-2-1). SUPER FLY: JOHN RAMIREZ (16-1) W PTS 10 BYRON ROJAS (29-6-3). SUPER LIGHT: RUSLAN ABDULLAEV (4-0) W TKO 5 EDUARDO ABREU (14-2-2). WELTER: CAYDEN GRIFFITHS (7-0) W PTS 6 LESTHER ESPINO (10-8). WELTER: RICARDO RUVALCABA (15-0-1) W PTS 8 JONATHA ENIZ(37-25-1,1ND).MIDDLE: FABIAN GUZMAN (9-0) W TKO 6 JOSE RODRIGUEZ (3-2).
Curiel vs. Panthen
CURIEL outpoints late substitute PANTHEN
Both were looking to establish their jab in the first with the bigger Panthen on the front foot and Curiel just a bit quicker and firing good counters. In the second and third Panthen impressed with some sharp uppercuts to offset Curiel’s speed and the fight was fairly even. Curiel took charge from the fourth. He was out jabbing Panthen finding the target with body punches and Panthen already seemed to struggle with the pace of the fight. Curiel continued to attack Panthen’s body and looked to have hurt Panthen with a body punch in the seventh. Curiel kept up the pressure in the eighth and shook Panthen with a right in the ninth. Panthen rallied and they fought hard through an entertaining tenth. Scores 97-93 twice and 98-92 for Curiel. He was supposed to meet Alexis Rocha in an NABF title defence but Rocha was taken ill shortly before the match and Panthen, who was to fight in another contest on the show, came in as very later substitute.
Chavez vs. Flores
CHAVEZ and FLORES settle some unfinished business as Chavez comes on strongly over the second half of the fight to take a unanimous decision. Flores dominated the first three round. He was pressing hard using his longer reach to keep the smaller Chavez on the back foot and scoring inside with hook from both hands. There was very little coming back from Chavez until late on in the fourth when he suddenly seemed to wake up and forged forward firing punches driving Flores back. It was to-and-fro action from there. Flores was looking to dominate with his right jabs but now Chavez was firing back and getting the better of the exchanges. Flores was competitive in every round but after he had a good sixth Chavez took over completely. He shook Flores in the seventh and as Flores tired he also swept the eighth, ninth and tenth to win on scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 96-94 for Chavez who wins the State title.
Ramirez vs, Rojas
RAMIREZ scores a majority decision over ROJAS. In the first round Rojas pressed hard forcing Ramirez onto the back foot and crowding him to the ropes. Ramirez settled from the second using his better skills to slip the attacks from Rojas and getting his punches off first. It looked to be one round each at that point but the rounds were close. Ramirez was looking to box on the outside circling the stalking Rojas and spearing him with jabs with Rojas constantly looking to force Ramirez to stand and trade. The better boxing from Ramirez gave him a slight edge and saw him pull away over the middle rounds but there was little between them in any round and at the end Rojas tried to close that gap Ramirez had crafted but just came up short. Widely differing scores of 98-92 and 97-93 for Ramirez and 95-95
Abdullaev vs. Abreu
ABDULLAEV crushes ABREU in five rounds. Abreu was coming forward taking the fight to Abdullaev and it was a close opening round. Abdullaev began to land heavily in the second as Abreu continued to try to put Abdulloaev under pressure. Abdullaev backed to the ropes in the third drawing Abrey in and as Abreu came forward he was nailed by right cross and a left hook which sent him down heavily. Abreu made it his feet and survived through the fourth. He had not taken on board the lesson from the third round and in the fifth was again lured in by Abdullaev and a series of hard head punches dropped him. He beat the count but a barrage of hooks and uppercuts had him helpless against the ropes and the fight was stopped. Abdullaev showed impressive power. The 23-year-old Uzbek is a former Olympian and a World Championships gold medallist who looks to have the tools to be a threat at super lightweight. Uruguayan Abreu was unbeaten in his last 10 bouts.
Griffiths vs. Espino
Top class prospect GRIFFITHS floors and outpoints ESPINO. Griffiths dropped Espino with a left hook in the second and won every round but in the end had to go the distance for the first time. Scores 60-53 on all three cards. Griffiths 19, has plenty of talent and is worth keeping an eye on. All of Nicaraguan Espino’s losses have come against unbeaten fighters.
Ruvalcaba vs Eniz
Californian RUVALCABA remains unbeaten with a wide, unanimous points victory over Argentinian southpaw ENIZ. Ruvalcaba too good, too young and too big for experienced Eniz. Ruvalcaba dominated the action but Eniz stayed in the fight making Ruvalcaba work for his win. Scores 80-72 twice and 79-73 for Ruvalcaba who gets his tenth win in a row. Eniz, a much travelled fighter, did the job he weas paid to do.
Guzman vs. Rodriguez
Guzman takes a couple of rounds to warm up and starts to land heavily in the third and drops Rodriguez in the fourth. The fight should have been stopped but Rodriguez soaked up serious punishments in the fifth before it was finally stopped in the sixth. Eighth inside the distance win for 22-year-old Guzman. Ecuadorian Rodriguez badly overmatched…
JANUARY 17
PUERTO MONTT, CHILE: SUPER FEATHER: JUNIOR CRUZAT (17-0) W PTS 10 PEDRO TORRES (8-2).
Chilean hope CRUZAT, 20, picks up the vacant WBO youth title with a points victory over Argentinian champion TORRES. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 97-93.
LANDSHUT, GERMANY: MIDDLE: VINCENZO GUALTIERI (25-1-1) W KO 1 ATTILA KOROS (18-41-3).
If you make rubbish matches you get rubbish fights. Former IBF champion Gualtieri knocks out Hungarian Koros in the first round. Gualtieri ha had 27 fights and now Kostos has 28 inside the distance losses.
FLENSBURG, GERMANY: SUPER WELTER: FREDDY KIWITT (29-3) W PTS 12 SULEIMAN JAFARU (17-2). SUPER MIDDLE: ALEXANDER CHUPIL (16-0) W TKO 2 AJEMI AMANI JR (22-8-2). Heavy: VIKTOR VYKHRYST (18-1) W TKO 1 TODORCHE CVETKOV (14-4).
Kiwitt vs. Jafaru
Liberian-born KIWITT retains the WBF world title and wins the WBO Global belt with a unanimous verdict over Nigerian JAFARU. Kiwitt had the better skills and used his strong jabbing to dominate the fight from the centre of the ring. Jafaru was competitive over the first half of the fight but lacked the experience of big fights and took steady punishment from the seventh, including a broken nose, as Kiwitt won a comfortable decision on scores of 118-110, 117-110 and 117-111. Now twelve wins in a row for Kiwitt but he said it was hard keeping his weight down and might move up to midweight. In his only other fight outside of Nigeria Jafaru was knocked out in two rounds by Milan Prat.
Chupil vs. Amani
CHUPIL adds another win as he stops German-based Tanzanian southpaw AMANI in the second round. Chupil almost ended it in the first with Amani taking two standing counts. A left hook to the body ended the fight in the second round. The 6’2” Chupil has won 7 of his last 8 fights inside the distance but has yet to face a real test. Fifth stoppage loss for Amani.
Vykhryst vs. Cvetkov
A farcical fight sees Ukrainian VYKHRYST blow away Macedonian CVETKOV in just 18 seconds. A right to the body and two hooks put obese Cvetkovic down and the referee just waived the farce over. This was billed as for the WBO European title which was a joke. Great things were expected from Vykhryst after he won gold medals at both the European Games and European championships but since being beaten in two rounds by Lenier Pero in 2023 he has wasted his time beating low level opponents. Cvetovic has flopped in anything resembling a test
TOKYO, JAPAN: SUPER LIGHT: KUNTAE LEE (11-0-1) W PTS 10 DAISHI NAGATA (21-5-2) .
Former undefeated Japanese champion LEE wins the vacant WBO Asia Pacific title with a unanimous decision over experienced fellow-southpaw NAGATA. Lee dominated the action from the start but Nagata proved a stubborn opponent always looking to take the fight to the taller fighter. Some of the early rounds were close but Lee scored heavily from the fifth. Head clashes saw both cut but luckily they were both able to continue and the extra power and speed of Lee saw him emerge a clear winner on scores of 99-91 twice and 100-90.
MERIDA, MEXICO: LIGHT FLY: RUSSELL ACOSTA (16-0) W TKO 10 EDINSON MARTINEZ (14-7-3).
Fighting in his home territory ACOSTA scores a late stoppage of MARTINEZ to come out the winner of a savage and exiting war. It looked as though Acosta might end it in the second when he staggered Martinez with a right hook but he was too wild and Martinez made it through the round. From there it was “phone booth” action with Martinez constantly changing guard and marching forward throwing hooks and uppercuts and Acosta making him pay with hard, accurate counters. It was brutal and it looked as though Martinez, who marched forward relentlessly, might wear Acosta down with his ferocious body punching. In the tenth Martinez walked onto a right and suddenly was badly rocked. Acosta drove him around the ring with Martinez reeling and stumbling until the referee came in to stop the fight. NABF minimumweight champion Acosta is No 15 with the WBC. Martinez proved a much tougher opponent than his record suggested he would.
DZIERZONIOW, POLAND: MIDDLE: RAFAL WOLCZECKI (17-0) W PTS 8 EMILIANO PUCHETA (19-11-1). SUPER MIDDLE: KAMIL BEDNAREK (17-0) W KO 1 ALPAY YAMAN (17-6).
Wolczecki vs. Pucheta
WOLCZECKI rolls on with points win over Argentinian PUCHETA. The local fighter put Pucheta down with two lefts in the second round and had him in trouble in the third and the seventh but Pucheta made it to the final bell with all three cards reading 80-71 for the Polish champion
Bednarek vs. Yaman
Southpaw BEDNAREK disposes of Germa YAMAN in the first round. Bednarek found plenty of gaps in Yaman’s defence before putting him down and out with a right hook. Just an easy pay day for the Polish champion as he makes it ten wins by KO/TKO. Yaman came in at very short notice.
SCHAFFHAUSEN, SWITZERLAND: CRUISER: ROBERTO BAKAJ (16-0) W RTD 4 BRAYAN SANTANDER (14-6).
German-based Albanian BAKAJ continues his 100% record of inside the distance wins as he beats Colombian southpaw SANTANDER. The Colombian was down in the third and three times in the fourth and did not come out for the fifth This marks the first time Bakaj has to past the third round for a win. Four inside the distance losses for Santander in his last six fights.
SAN JACINTO, CA. USA: FEATHER: ALBERT GONZALEZ (16-0) W TKO 7 FRANKLIN GONZALEZ (25-5).
ALBERT GONZALEZ wins the Gonzalez vs. Gonzalez clash as he stops FRANKLIN GONZALEZ in the seventh round. The 23-year-old Californian floored Franklin twice in the sixth and twice in the seventh with the referee then waiving the fight over. Ninth victory by KO/TKO for Albert. Venezuelan Franklin was 25-0 but is now 0-5
PHILADELPHIA, PA, USA: HEAVY: DAINIER PERO (12-O) W RTD 2 MARIO AGUILAR (23-11).
Cuban PERO beats a seriously overmatched Mexican AGUILAR on a second round retirement. Pero spent two rounds beating on the huge girth of the largely static Aguilar and the Mexican did not come out for the third. Pero had been floored twice by Cesar Navarro in May but survived to win on points. They wanted an easy return for Pero but this was ridiculous. Aguila was 5” smaller and was having only his third fight in three years. He weighed 188 lbs for his first pro fight and was 74 lbs heavier for this one. Not sure what amazes me more-that someone would make such a rubbish match or someone would pay to watch it. Pero, 26, could be a real danger.
FIGHT OF THE WEEK: Russell Acosta vs. Edinson Martinez featured ten rounds of all-out war
FIGHTER OF THE WEEK: No outstanding performances
PUNCH OF THE WEEK: It hurt even to watch the left to the body by Liam Wilson that sent poor Rodex Piala down in agony
UPSET OF THE WEEK: None-a good weekend for the favourites
ONE TO WATCH: Uzbek Super lightweight Ruslan Abdullaev 4-0 a former World Champion in the amateurs
OBSERVATION:
Rosette(s): On a dead weekend the Golden Boy show in Palm Springs provided 55 rounds of reasonable level matches.
Red Card(s): There were so many abysmal matches that is was hard to decide which was the .
worst
Sometimes I Google venues to see where they are geographically and what the general neighbourhood looks like. The Tszyu vs. Zerafa show was in Boondall a very up market suburb of Brisbane and it looked quite nice. Can’t blame them from changing the name of the from Cabbage Tree Creek!
About the Author
Born in Scotland, Eric Armit started working with Boxing News magazine in the UK in the late 1960’s initially doing records for their Boxing News Annual and compiling World, European and Commonwealth ratings for the magazine. He wrote his first feature article for Boxing News in 1973 and wrote a “World Scene” weekly column for the magazine from the late 1970’s until 2004. Armit wrote a monthly column for Boxing Digest in the USA and contributed pieces to magazines in Mexico, Italy, Australia, Spain, Argentina and other countries. Armit now writes a Weekly Report covering every major fight around the world and a bi-weekly Snips & Snipes column plus occasional general interest articles with these being taken up by boxing sites around the world. He was a member of the inaugural WBC Ratings Committee and a technical advisor to the EBU Ratings Committee and was consulted by John McCain’s research team when they were drafting the Ali Act. He is a Director and former Chairman of the Commonwealth Boxing Council. Armit has been nominated to the International Boxing Hall of Fame the past two years (2019 and 2020) to which he said, “Being on the list is an unbelievably huge honour.”
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Eric Armit.
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