number1contender.net

Showtime Championship Boxing Recap

February 7, 2009

The Pond (Honda Center)-Anaheim, California

Former EliteXC commentator Gus Johnson is taking over the play-by-play duties from Steve Albert after 22 years for Showtime Championship Boxing starting with this event. He promises to bring lots of enthusiasm to the post. Early in the show, he is bringing way too much enthusiasm.

1. WBO NABO Lightweight (135 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Almazbek "Kid Diamond" Raiymkulov (27-1-1, 15 KO's, 133.5 pounds) vs. Antonio DeMarco (19-1-1, 13 KO's, 134 pounds)

This title is currently vacant. It was last held by Jorge Luis Teron.Teron vacated this belt, because it is a rather meaningless trinket.

Diamond had a solid amateur boxing career that culminated when he represented Kyrgyzstan at 132 pounds during the 2000 Sydney Summer Olympics.

The native of Kyrgyzstan was being positioned for a title shot when he was matched up with Miguel Angel Huerta on the undercard of a Versus event featuring Hasim Rahman on June 15, 2007 at the Main Street Armory in Rochester, New York. At the time, Diamond was ranked in the top 10 at 135 pounds, and Huerta was being brought in as a late replacement on 3 weeks notice. Diamond was supposed to deliver a flashy win. Instead the match was disastrous for Diamond. Diamond won the match despite being knocked down when the judges awarded him a gift split-decision. The Olympian then gave a post-match interview then came off as full of excuses and whiny. The full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/2/4/recap-of-almazbek-kid-diamond-raiymkulov-vs-miguel-angel-hue.html

Diamond's last match was 10-round majority decision victory over Javier Jauregui on September 19, 2008 at Buffalo Bill's Star Arena in Primm, Nevada.

Diamond is unranked by The Ring magazine, and the number 18 ranked boxer in the world at 135 pounds by boxrec.com.

DeMarco is here to do to Diamond, what Diamond was supposed to do to Huerta. That is deliver an exciting win to prove he is more then a prospect. The resident of Tijuana, Mexico has been boxing against steadily improving competition mostly in the Southwest United States. His last 3 opponents have all had winning records.

DeMarco's last match was a 10-round split decision victory over Jose Reyes on September 5, 2008 at Buffalo Bill's Star Arena.

DeMarco is unranked by The Ring, and the number 37 ranked boxer in the world at 135 pounds by boxrec.com.

At 23-years-old, DeMarco is 9 years younger then the 32-year-old Diamond. DeMarco has the height advantage standing 5' 9" tall, while Diamond stands 5' 6.5" tall. The Mexican has the reach advantage with a 71" wingspan, compared to the 68" wingspan of Diamond. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, the numbers suggest that DeMarco will be the heavier boxer in the ring. Diamond will box out of the orthodox stance. DeMarco is naturally right-handed, but boxes out ofthe southpaw stance.

California's modified version of the unified rules of boxing are in effect. All of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from California. The referee is Jerry Cantu.

Round 1 was very close with very few clean punches landed. Diamond probably won round 1, because he was coming forward for the majority of the round and finished the round with a flurry, 10-9. However, Diamond accidentally headbutted DeMarco throwing that combination at the bell and busted himself open over the right eye. The referee is correctly ruling that the cut was caused by an unintentional clash of heads. The cut is bad and streaming blood. It is in the eyebrow line, but may be just enough off to the side that it will not effect Diamond's vision. This looks like it could be a cut that could lead to a premature stoppage if DeMarco decides to work on it. With 38 seconds to go in round 2, Diamond hits the mat when his back foot loses traction on the logo on the canvas. The referee correctly rules it a slip and the action is resumed with 31 seconds to go in the round. Landing some wild punches throughout round 2, Diamond wins the round, 10-9. With over 30 seconds to go in round 3, it appears DeMarco has developed a small cut over his left eye. It was probably caused by an unintentional clash of heads. Diamond has already been warned several times in this match for using his head recklessly and may lose a point for it during this match. The referee calls time with 23 seconds to go in the round to rule that the cut above DeMarco's eye was caused by an unintentional headbutt. DeMarco landed a few clean left hands to take a close round 3, 10-9. The cut above DeMarco's eye appears very small and should not be a problem, unless he keeps getting headbutted. DeMarco wins round 4, 10-9. After 4 rounds, the match is even on my scorecard, 38-38. All 3 of the members of the press keeping unofficial score of the match from ringside for Showtime have the match even, 38-38.

DeMarco shows good defensive skills in winning round 5, 10-9. Diamond is more aggressive in winning round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, the match is even on my scorecard, 57-57. Al Bernstein, who is doing color commentary of this event for Showtime, after 6 rounds has the match even, 57-57.

After round 6, they are interviewing Timothy Bradley who will be in a 140-pound title unification match on April 4 on Showtime against Kendall Holt. Bradley does a poor job hyping his own match and picks Darchinyan in the main event.

With 2:17 to go in round 7, Diamond is warned for throwing an elbow. It originally appeared that the former Olympian threw a right hand and followed through with an attempted elbow smash. However, on replay it appears Diamond may have never thrown a punch, just an elbow.Diamond may have had second thoughts about throwing the punch and in trying to pull it back threw an elbow instead of a punch. Diamond landed several good right hands to take round 7, 10-9. After 7 rounds, Diamond leads on my scorecard, 67-66. Press row has DeMarco winning the match via split decision after 7 rounds: 67-66, 67-66, 66-67.

The boxers traded punches in a very difficult to score round 8. Diamond landed the harder punches, but DeMarco probably landed more clean punches. DeMarco may barely take round 8, 10-9. After 8 rounds, my scorecard has the match a draw, 76-76. All of these rounds have been very close and the official judges' scores could be all over the place at this point. All of the members of the press keeping unofficial score for Showtime from ringside scored round 8 for Diamond, 10-9. They now have the match a majority draw: 76-76, 76-76, 77-75 (Diamond).

With around 2:30 to go in round 9, Diamond has been cut on the bridge of his nose. This cut also appears to have been caused by an unintentional clash of heads. Diamond has been blowing his nose for several rounds, and more damage to his nose could make it very hard for the boxer to get oxygen. DeMarco dominated the last 2 minutes of round 9 and had Diamond badly hurt. The Mexican wins round 9 big, 10-9. The doctor is checking on Diamond after round 9 and it appears he may stop it. The ringside physician is asking that they take Diamond's mouthpiece out so he can better check out Diamond but,the corner cannot get it out. Diamond's mouth is full of blood. The boxer may have a broken nose. The doctor apparently ruled Diamond fit to continue and said the corner now has 60 seconds to work on their charge. However, Diamond's body language looks bad. It appears that he wants out and his corner is not letting him quit. Then as round 10 is about to start the match is halted. DeMarco is going to win by technical knockout, because Diamond says he cannot continue.

The official outcome courtesy of the always "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that at: 3:00 of round 9 at the advice of thecorner the referee has stopped the match making the winner by technical knockout and new WBO NABO Lightweight Champion, Antonio DeMarco. The win moves DeMarco to 20-1-1 with now 14 wins coming by way of knockout.

DeMarco in his post match interview said that he knew the match was close. For the record, the judges had the match a split decision in favor of DeMarco at the time of the stoppage: 88-83, 88-83, 85-86.

Now they are going to interview the referee about the stoppage. Apparently, the doctor ruled that Diamond was fit to continue. However, Diamond told his corner that he did not feel fit to continue. That got relayed to the referee and ended the match.

DeMarco looked very green in this match. He is very tall for a boxer at 135 pounds and possesses a lot of natural skills. However, he was not able to land consistently on Diamond who had his hands down and was charging in recklessly almost the entire match. In the very deep 135 pound division, the young DeMarco appears years away from winning a title. He would be well served to get more matches where he can refine his skills on lower profile cards. DeMarco is the right type of boxer for ShoBox, not major Showtime events.

Diamond was mediocre in this match against an opponent that he needed to beat. The former Olympian showed bad defense at times and by quitting took himself to a dark place. Once a boxer quits, it is easier for themto do it again. It usually signifies the beginning of the end for a boxer. Diamond will need to seriously re-evaluate what he wants to do with his career following this loss. At his age, it appears he will never be a world champion or make the money in boxing he wanted to make in his once promising career.

2. IBF Junior Bantamweight/WBA/WBC Super Flyweight (115 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Vic Darchinyan (31-1-1, 25 KO's, 115 pounds) (c) vs. Jorge Arce (51-4-1, 39 KO's, 115 pounds)

Darchinyan won his IBF Junior Bantamweight Championship from Dimitri Kirilov via technical knockout at 1:05 of round 5 on August 2, 2008. The unorthodox Darchinyan finished Kirilov with a wild overhand left that the Armenian never saw connect. The original recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/2/26/recap-of-vic-darchinyan-vs-dimitri-kirilov.htmlDarchinyan is making his second defense of this title.

Darchinyan won the WBA and WBC Super Flyweight Championships from Cristian Mijares in his last match. The match won several awards for upset of the year. (That is ironic, because Darchinyan was on the wrong side of The Ring's 2007 Upset of the Year, when he was knocked out by Nonito Donaire.) Mijares entered the match ranked number 7 on The Ring's list of top pound-for-pound boxers in the world, and Darchinyan was boxing for the first time in the United States since the loss to Donaire. Mijares came intothe Home Depot Center on November 1, 2008 as a hero. As he walked to the ring, men were literally pulling Mijares out of the aisle to hug him and women were grabbing the boxer to kiss him as he walked to the ring. Meanwhile, Darchinyan was vociferously booed after promising to send Mijares to the hospital. Considering the last time Darchinyan had boxed at the Home Depot Center he had done just that to another Mexican boxer, beating Victor Burgos into a several month long coma, these remarks did not sit well with the fans attendance. Especially since the crowd composed mostly of hardcore Mexican boxing fans was likely composed of many of the samefans thatwere in the stands for Darchinyan's last outing in Carson, California.

Unfortunately for the Los Angeles area crowd, Darchinyan did what good heels do to get over, soundly beat the babyface. Darchinyandropped Mijares to the mat with a perfect left uppercut with 20 seconds to go in round 1. It was only the second time in Mijares' 42 match pro career he had been down. The bell saved a shocked Mijares from being finished in round 1. The technical boxing Mijares then decided to brawl with the more powerful Darchinyan, losing the next several rounds as the outcome became obvious. Finally with 8 seconds to go in round 9, Darchinyan landed the inevitable left hand that sent Mijares down for the knockout. Then Darchinyan, who rivals England's David Haye for the spot of best trash talker in boxing, bragged to the crowd in his post match interview about delivering on his promise to send Mijares to the hospital. The full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/2/5/recap-of-vic-darchinyan-vs-cristian-mijares.htmlDarchinyan is making his first defense of these titles.

Darchinyan had a decorated amateur boxing career that culminated when he represented his native Armenia at the 2000 Sydney Olympiad in the 112 pound division.

ESPN.com described Darchinyan as a boxer who appears to use the Iron Sheik as a role model. Darchinyan is hated in Los Angeles and has been working overtime to build up his heel heat for this match. The boxer now hailing from Australia has promised to punish Arce like he punished Mijares. Darchinyan is not predicting an early knockout in this match. Instead, Darchinyan says he will hurt Arce early. Then let Arce recover, so he can hurt him some more. Only at that point will Darchinyan go for the knockout.

Darchinyan is The Ring's number 1 contender to their vacant championship at 115 pounds.

Arce turned pro at 16-years-old, therefore limiting his amateur boxing career.

Arce is very popular in Mexico. He appeared on Mexico's version of the reality series "Big Brother" which is one of the top shows there. Arce has appeared on numerous sketch comedy shows and competed in a television dancing contest similar to "Dancing with the Stars" to boost his popularity and marketability. He has adopted the character of a cowboy. Arce comes to the ring and does press conferences wearing a cowboy hat and sucking on a lollipop. He will have a tremendous hometown advantage in the building for this match.

Arce's last match was a technical knockout victory over Isidro Garcia 48 seconds into round 4 on November 1, 2008 at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. Garcia was a weak opponent designed to keep the boxer busy until he could face the winner of Darchinyan vs. Mijares. That was supposed to be Mijares, who had dominated Arcetaking a12-round unanimous decision on April 14, 2007 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. That would have been a great match up of Mexican babyfaces. Instead, Arce gets the chance to play the ultimate babyface against the villainous Darchinyan.

Arce is The Ring's number 6 contender at 115 pounds.

At 29-years-old, Arce is 4 years younger then the 33-year-old Darchinyan. Darchinyan has the height advantage standing 5' 5.5" tall, while Arce stands 5' 4.5" tall. Arce has the reach advantage with a 66" wingspan, compared to the 64.5" wingspan of Darchinyan. Neither boxers' unofficial weight approaching match time is available. However, the IBF requires boxers to weigh-in within 10 pounds of their official weigh-in weights on the day of the match. Therefore, both boxers should be about the same weight in the ring. Darchinyan will employ the southpaw stance and Arce will employ the orthodox stance.

Darchinyan is smiling walking to the ring. He is basking in the crowd's raucous hatred. The building is packed to see him lose, just like he wants.

All of the judges keeping official score of this match are from California. The referee is Dr. Lou Moret.

Darchinyan dominated Arce in winning round 1, 10-9. Once again, Darchinyan did exactly what he said he was going to do. At the end of round 1, there is a cut under the right eye of Arce. The boxers' heads were coming close in round 1, but that was probably caused by one of Darchinyan's powerful left hands. The normally confident Arce's body language is bad in the corner after round 1. He knows that was about the worst start to the match he could have. At the end of round 2, there is some severe swelling under the left eye of Arce. It is probably not effecting his vision, yet. However, it could become a problem in a few rounds. Darchinyan dominates Arce in winning round 2, 10-9. Arce appears to be doing everything wrong against Darchinyan in the firstcouple rounds. On the outside, Arce is circling to the right, into Darchinyan's bigleft hand. Then Arce will come charging to get inside. Except, Darchinyan has Arce timed and is hitting Arce with straight lefts whenever Arce tries to come inside. Finally on the rare occasions Arce gets inside, Darchinyan punishes him with left uppercuts. At the end of round 3, Darchinyan was cut badly over his left eye by an unintentional clash of heads. The cut is near the bridge of his nose and streaming plasma as he heads back to his corner. Arce turned round 3 into a brawl and it was his best round of the match. However, Darchinyan still wins round 3, 10-9. Great round 4 with some outstanding exchanges of power punches. Darchinyan had Arce hurt and in trouble at the end of the round. Therefore, Darchinyan wins round 4, 10-9. Arce found some hope in round 4. He hit Darchinyan with some damaging left hooks in the round. Darchinyan holds his lead right hand very low and is very susceptible to that punch. The counter left hook is what Donaire used to knockout Darchinyan. If Arce keeps throwing the left hook, he can end Darchinyan's night with one punch.At the end of round 4, in addition to the severe swelling aroundArce's left eye, there is now a cut there also. The cut below Arce's right eye appears to be under control, but there is some minor swelling developing there. Arce screamed about Darchinyan leading with his head as he returned to his corner following round 4. After 4 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 40-36.

Darchinyan continued to punish Arce in winning round 5, 10-9. At the end of round 5, Arce's ear has started to bleed. It is unclear why it is bleeding, but they iced it in between rounds. With 2:53 to go in round 6, the referee issues Darchinyan a stern warning for pushing down on the head of Arce. This match has been full of roughhousing and the referee may decide to deduct a point from Darchinyan at some point. Darchinyan continues to dominate Arce in winning round 6, 10-9. The only reason this match is still going is that Arce has an amazing chin. After 6 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 60-54. The 3 members of the press keeping unofficial score of this match from ringside for Showtime have the same score after 6 rounds.

Darchinyan is way too good for Arce and the champion wins round 7, 10-9. Round 8 is more of the same, and Darchinyan takes it, 10-9. It is getting to the point that Arce's corner may want to think about stopping this match. Darchinyan is susceptible to the left hook. However, Arce has taken such a beating that the majority of the power has gone out of his punches. In round 8, Arce landed the clean left hook to Darchinyan's jaw that he had been looking for and had hurt Darchinyan earlier, except this timethe punchhad no effect on the southpaw. Arce is hopelessly behind on the scorecards, but does still have a faint chance for a come from behind knockout. However, the swelling around Arce's left eye is very bad at this point and may be effecting his vision. Much more of this and Darchinyan will permanently injure Arce. Darchinyan has already put one Mexican boxer who was too tough to get knocked down in a coma and would not be shy about doing it to another. With 1:08 to go in round 9, Darchinyan holds Arce and hits the reality TV star. The referee issues Darchinyan another stern warning. Arce complains vehemently that the punch was to the back of the head. It appeared to be a borderline punch to the back of the head. The referee is not buying it and tells Arce to get back to boxing. Oddly, Arce is bleeding heavily from behind his left ear, but the Darchinyan punch Arce is complaining about was behind his right ear. There is no blood in the vicinity of Arce right ear. At the end of round 9, Arce is not only bleeding from around his left ear, but he is again bleeding from around his right eye. In addition, heis still bleeding from a cut under his left eye. Darchinyan wins round 9, 10-9. After 9 rounds, Darchinyan leads on my scorecard, 90-81.

Darchinyan, again dominates Arce to win round 10, 10-9. Arce's corner really needs to think about stopping this match. Arce is completely spent at this point and in serious danger of being badly hurt. After 10 rounds, all of the press row scorecards and my scorecard have Darchinyan ahead, 100-90.

With around 1:50 to go in round 11, the cut around Arce's right eyehas gotten much worse and is obstructing his vision. Arce wants the referee to call timeout. However, the referee is telling Arce the cut was caused by a punch and to continue boxing. Darchinyan is using the opportunity to try and finish his impaired opponent. With 1:30 to go in round 11, Arce slips partially through the ropes forcing a momentary break in the action. Arce is complaining that Darchinyan pushed him. However, the referee is still not buying into Arce's complaining. Arce survives the rest of round 11, but loses it soundly. Darchinyan wins round 11, 10-9. The doctor comes into the ring to check on Arce once the bell sounds to end round 11. The ringside physician is going to stop this match.

The official outcome courtesy of the "Classy" Jimmy Lennon, Jr. is that at: 3:00 of round at the advice of the doctor the referee has stopped the match making the winner by technical knockout and still Unified 115-Pound Champion of the World, "The Raging Bull" Vic Darchinyan. The win moves Darchinyan to 32-1-1 with now 26 wins coming by way of knockout.

The boisterous Darchinyan in his post match interview said that he did what he said he was going to do. As promised he punished Arce. Darchinyan said he wants a rematch with Donaire. However, Darchinyan's promoter, Gary Shaw jumped in to say the match will never happen. Shaw said he will not reward "disloyal people". (After Donaire's promotional contract with Shaw expired, the boxer signed with Top Rank. Donaire did not break his contract. However, this is disloyalty in the honorable sport of boxing.) It appears Ivan Calderon attempted to jump in and issue a post match challenge to Darchinyan, but was blocked. Darchinyan told whoever it was they had to go through Arce first and that Arce would destroy them.

Now for Arce's post match interview. Arce said he lost, because Darchinyan was throwing elbows. In addition, Arce was cut on the back of the head that contributed to the loss. It is best to assume Arce is concussed and not thinking clearly. Therefore, all post match comments from the boxer should be disregarded. Arce said that the circling to the left into Darchinyan's power allowed him to throw effective body shots. However, he did note that it allowed Darchinyan to throw effective punches to the head. Strangely, Arce wants a rematch. All of the official judges had Arce losing by the same score of 109-100 at the time of the stoppage. Arce said he disagreed with the doctor's decision to stop the match, because he had a puncher's chance in round 12.

Following this win and the retirement of Joe Calzaghe (see below), Darchinyan has become The Ring's number 10 ranked boxer in the world, pound-for-pound. Darchinyan was great in this match. He dominated Arce in every way possible.Thechampionwas put on a 60 day medical suspension following the match for the cut near the bridge of his nose. The best match for Darchinyan when he is allowed to compete again is the rematch with Donaire. However, it appears Shaw's petty grudge will keep that match from happening in the near future. Therefore, it appears Darchinyan will move up to 118 pounds andchallenge either Joseph Agbeko or Hozumi Hasagawa for a belt there. A match with Agbeko is far more marketable in the United States making it the most likely to happen.

Following this loss, Arce has been dropped 2 spots in The Ring's rankings at 115 pounds and is the number 8 contender in the weight class. Arce was completely outclassed in this match. The only positive for him to take away from this match is that he showed a nearly inhuman ability to take a punch. With more carefully chosen opponents Arce can be successful against good boxers at 115 pounds. Arce needs to be matched against orthodox boxers who are the exact opposite of Darchinyan. He would be best served to headline some smaller shows or be in feature undercard matches on big shows rebuilding, before facing an elite boxer, again.

This was a very easy event to skip. The first match was average. The main event was completely one-sided. On the bright side, Gus Johnson recovered from a rocky first few minutes and put together a generally solid broadcast.

News and Notes: The California State Athletic Commission has revoked the licenses of Antonio Margarito and his trainer Javier Capetillo after a plaster-like substance was found in Margarito's hand wraps prior to the boxer'slossto Shane Mosley. Margarito cannot box for at least 1 year and must have a hearing in California to get his license back before he returns to action. Capetillo cannot corner any boxers for one year and too must have a hearing in California, before he is allowed to resume his work. This is the same general ruling that was handed down to Mike Tyson when he famously bit Evander Holyfield's ear.

However, an incensed Bob Arum, Margarito's promoter, said he was not going to honor the commission's decision after the hearing and keep Margarito out of the ring. Arum called the CSAC racist and biased against Mexicans. Despite the fact the commission voted unanimously 7-0 to revoke both licenses, Arum is trying to appeal the decision. Regardless of the outcome, Arum says he is going to have Margarito box this summer. If the license revocation is upheld, Arum claims he will have Margarito headline a PPV from Mexico thatcan do 200,000 or 300,000 buys. Arum continued saying that Top Rank will never run another event in California.

The mayor of Tijuana, Mexico, Margarito's hometown said in a statement released by Top Rank that they would welcome Margarito to box in the town, whenever he is ready. Margarito was scheduled to headline one of the biggest boxing PPV's of the year in June against Miguel Cotto at Madison Square Garden. The match could probably still do a lot of money in Mexico with Margarito as the outlaw heel. However, Cotto wants no part of Arum's trip to Crazytown.

On February 5, with nothing left to prove Joe Calzaghe officially retired. He leaves boxing with a record of 46-0 with 32 wins coming by way of knockout. Calzaghe's legacy as the greatest boxer ever at 168 pounds is unquestionable. He retires as the reigning king at 175 pounds and arguably the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world. Calzaghe may be the best British and potentially the best European boxer in history.

The pay-per-view carrier for the May 2, Manny Pacquiao-Ricky Hatton match has been signed officially named. The match, as expected will be carried on HBO PPV and receive the expected 24/7 series build for the match. Showtime PPV had been trying to get the match and do promote the matchwith CBS, but Golden Boy Promotions felt strongly about wanting HBO.

Omar Narvaez set a new record for most consecutive successful title defenses by an Argentineanat 15 on February 7. That night in Chubut, Argentina, Narvaev retained his WBO Championship at 112 pounds via round 10 technical knockout over Rayonta Whitfield. Narvaez' fifteenth title defense had him surpass Carlos Monzon's 14 title defenses at 160 pounds to claim the record.

Marco Antonio Barrera came out of retirement to defeat Freudis Rojas on January 31 via disqualification in round 3. Rojas was disqualified for intentionally headbutting Barrera. The headbuttgave Barrera a bad vertical cut over his left eye that forced the premature stoppage, hence the disqualification. Barrera is scheduled to face Amir Khan on March 14 with the winner receiving a shot at a title at 135 pounds later this year. There have been 15,000 tickets sold for that event in England and it is set to air on pay-per-view in the United States. Luckily, despite the cut Barrera says he will be ready to go for his match with Khan.

The details of Winky Wright's return to the ring have been finalized. He will face Paul Williams at 160 pounds on April 11 at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada. The match will be carried live on HBO. Andrei Arlovski will be making his professional boxing debut on the undercard of that show.

Ruslan Chagaev retained his portion of the WBA Heavyweight Championship via 6-round technical decision on February 7 over Carl Davis Drumond. Chagaev who reportedly had to miss several months of action due to complications from hepatitis, was cut by an accidental clash of heads in this match. Drumond thenfoolishly decided to work over the cut and the doctor stopped the match after round 6 sending it to the scorecards. There are no reports if Drumond was cut during the match or if Chagaev ever turned in a blood test saying he did not have hepatitis. Chagaev is now scheduled to face Nikolai Valuev next. The likelihood of actual blood work being performed before that match is low.

Speaking of blood diseases, boxing disgraced itself again on January 31. Tommy Morrison defeated Corey Williams by knockout in round 1 on January 31 in Laramie, Wyoming. Morrison who tested positive for HIV in 1996 and has yet to produce a valid test that he is HIV negative did not need to produce one for this match. That is because there is no commission in Wyoming. This builds the case for the need for a national boxing commission. The fact that Tommy Morrison continues to box is not only an embarrassment to the sport of boxing, but may actually be criminal.

The next recap will be coming out soon covering the February 14 HBO event.

Sincerely,

Jereme Warneck

number1contender.net

Boxing and Video Game Correspondent for f4wonline.com

Hidden Valley Lake, CA

I can be reached for feedback and comments at ZurRoadie@aol.com or as JeremeW on XBOX Live. I read everything.