number1contender.net

HBO Boxing After Dark Recap

February 14, 2009

BankAtlantic Center-Sunrise, Florida

1. Junior Middleweight (154 pounds) 10-Round Match:

Alfredo Angulo (14-0, 11 KO's, 153.5 pounds) vs. Cosme Rivera (31-11-2, 1 NC, 22 KO's, 151.5 pounds)

Angulo had a solid amateur boxing career that culminated when he represented Mexico in the 165-pound division at the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics.

Currently, Angulo is Antonio Margarito's featured sparring partner. The work with Margarito has forced Angulo to become an all action boxer. This is especially important considering Freddie Roachhas reported thatMargarito has been loading up his hand wraps in sparring sessions, too.

Angulo's last match was a sickening technical knockout victory at 2:27 of round 10 over Andrey Tsurkan on October 4, 2008 at the Pechanga Resort & Casino in Temecula, California. The match should have been stopped in round 5, after Angulo had already beaten Tsurkan to the point of being somewhat unresponsive. However, no one involved used good judgment and Angulo was forced to continue beating on Tsurkan to the point the HBO commentators were predicting death for Tsurkan. In round 10, Angulo had put such a beating on Tsurkan that Jim Lampley screamed out from his position doing play-by-play of the event for HBO for Tsurkan to "GO DOWN!" Still, the match continued and Angulo continued to savage Tsurkan. Finally, Tsurkan's corner threw in the towel to end the match with 33 seconds to go in the match. This match was not so much a testament to Angulo's greatness, but the abominable bloodsport boxing can become when incompetent people are allowed to make decisions about competitor safety. Angulo had 400 total connects, while Tsurkan had 143 total connects. Angulo landed 296 power punches to Tsurkan's 76 power punches, a difference of 220 power connects. Angulo landed an average of 30 power punches per round at asickening 49% power connect percentage. A full recap of that beating can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/2/27/recap-of-alfredo-angulo-vs-andrey-tsurkan.html

Angulo is unranked by The Ring, and currently ranked by boxrec.com as the number 7 boxer in the world at 154 pounds.

Rivera turned pro at 16-years-old on January 1, 1993 with a 4-round draw against Cachorron Diaz in Mexico.

Rivera would go on to spend the next several years improving and eventually become a borderline contender. He earned 1 shot at a major world title losing. After being knocked down twice, Rivera losta title match at 147 pounds to Zab Judah via technical knockout at 2:11 of round 3 on May 14, 2005 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Since that match, Rivera has been primarily been serving the role of gatekeeper to upcoming prospects in the 147-pound division. Riverawas the boxer used to test Andre Berto to see if he was ready for a title shot. The boxer from Mexico proved dangerous knocking down Berto in round 6, but lost the other 9 rounds of the 10 round match on 2 of the judges scorecards.

The veteran is coming in as a very late replacement for this match. Ricardo Mayorga had been scheduled to face Angulo in this match. However, Mayorga pulled out 11 days before the event, because he wanted more money to go through with the match. Danny Perez then agreed to face Angulo for $80,000. Perez then changed his mind about facing Angulo almost immediately after accepting the offer to face Angulo. Perez decided he would not face Angulo unless he got more then the $80,000 he had agreed to take for the match. With 4 days notice, Rivera agreed to step in and face Angulo.

Rivera's last match was a technical knockout victory at 2:50 of round 3 over Bobby Joe Valdez on August 8, 2008 in Sacramento, California at Raley Field, where the Oakland A's Triple-A franchise plays.

Rivera is unranked by The Ring, and currently ranked by boxrec.com as the number 78 boxer in the world at 147 pounds.

At 26-years-old, Angulo is 6 years younger then the 32-year-old Rivera. Rivera has the height advantage standing 6' 1" tall, while Angulo stands 5' 10.5" tall. Angulo has the reach advantage with a 71" wingspan, compared to the 69" wingspan of Rivera. Angulo has a huge weight advantage in the ring having unofficially rehydrated to 165 pounds approaching match time. On HBO's unofficial scales, Rivera has lost 1.5 pounds since the official weigh-ins and is down to 150 pounds approaching match time. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

 The unified rules of boxing are in effect for this event. All of the official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from Florida. The referee is Tellis Assimenios. Harold Lederman will keeping unofficial score of this event for HBO.

With over 1:30 to go in round 1, Angulo is cut over his right eye. That cut around Angulo's right eye is bad and appears to be dripping directly into the eye. Angulo gets cut frequently during his matches, and bleeding no longer impedes his ability to box effectively. Therefore, the 2004 Olympian is still landing power punches with both hands on Rivera. Behind the solid power punching, Angulo takes round 1, 10-9. The referee has incorrectly ruled that Angulo was cut by a punch. Replays clearly show Angulo was cut by an unintentional clash of heads. A close up shot in the corner reveals that the cut is directly above Angulo's eye slightly under his eyebrow, It has to be impairing his vision. This is the type of cut that could lead to an early stoppage. An apparently over-matched veteran like Rivera should be savvy enough to work on that cut, because a premature stoppage would give him a win via technical knockout. Lederman scores round 1 for Angulo, 10-9. To open up round 2, Rivera wisely startedaiming left hooks at Angulo's damaged eye. Angulo lands numerous power punches in the last minute of round 2. That winsAnguloround 2, 10-9. However after round 2,the cut above Angulo's right eye has become sickeningly wide. It is not bleeding much, but that cut is getting to the point it may be too dangerous for Angulo to continue. Angulo wins round 3 huge. Without a knockdownAngulowins round 3, 10-8. The referee came close to stopping the match several times in round 3. Rivera's corner will need to throw in the towel if round 4 is the same as round 3. Angulo is too big and strong for Rivera. According to CompuBox, in round 3, Angulo landed 51 of the 79 power punches he threw, for a 65% power connect percentage. That is practically inhuman. In round 3, Rivera only threw 50 total punches. After 3 rounds, Angulo leads on my scorecard, 30-26. Angulo takes round 3 on Lederman's scorecard 10-8, and is ahead on the Lederman scorecard after 3 rounds, 30-26.

Angulo continues to dominate Rivera taking round 4, 10-9. Rivera staggered back to his corner after round 4 and told his corner he was tired. That should be taken as code that they need to stop the match. Lederman scores round 4 for Angulo, 10-8. In rounds 3 and 4, Angulo has landed 103 total punches, while Rivera has only landed 24 total punches. If this keeps up, Rivera is going to get seriously hurt. The HBO commentators think Rivera's corner man should have listened to their boxer and ended the match in the corner after round 4. Finally, after Rivera had taken a ridiculous amount of unnecessary punishment someone from the Florida athletic commission rushed the ring to stop the match with 20 seconds to go in round 5. Apparently, the official went into the ring when they were told to stop the match by Rivera's corner. That of course took several seconds where Rivera was hit a few more times. Rivera's corner could have rushed the ring or thrown in the towel themselves, which would have saved their charge about 5 unnecessary punches to the head. In fact, they could have thrown in the towel when their boxer was beingbattered in round 3. Rivera's corner could have stopped the match at the end of round 4, when their charge was trapped in the corner and being beaten by Angulo. They certainly should have stopped it in the corner after round 4. They also could have stopped it in any of the earlier 2:40 of round 5 that Angulo was beating on the virtually helpless Rivera. Generally a poor job done by Rivera's corner. Also, the referee should have stopped this match several times in round 3. He should have stopped it when Rivera was pinned in the corner to end round 4. He too should have stopped it numerous times in round 5. Terrible job by the referee and corner, whose primary job is to protect the safety of the competitors.

The official outcome courtesy of the legendary Michael Buffer is that at: 2:38 of round 5 the referee has stopped the contest making the winner by technical knockout and still undefeated, Alfredo "El Perro" Angulo. The win moves Angulo to 15-0 with now 12 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punhstat numbers have Angulo landing 217 of the 467 total punches he threw, for a 46% total connect percentage. Rivera landed 84 of the 300 total punches he threw, for a 28% total connect percentage.

Angulo was great in this match. He may have problems with more defensive oriented boxers in the future. However, he appears ready for a title shot. This was his eleventh straight win by knockout, 10 of which have come before the end of round 5. Angulo has scary power and it almost seems unfair to match him against anything but the elite at 154 pounds. If Angulo continues to box against 154-pounders outside the top 10, he is so dominant he may literally end up killing one of them. Angulo is the number 1 contender to Sergei Dzindziruk's belt at 154 pounds. Therefore, that is the next logical match for Angulo.

Rivera took this match on short notice and at a weight class above where he normally competes. He appeared to suffer no permanent damage in this and should be back competing on ESPN in his gatekeeper role in about 4 months.

2. Interim WBC Super Welterweight (154 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Sergio Martinez (44-1-1, 24 KO's, 153.25 pounds) (c) vs. Kermit Cintron (30-2, 27 KO's, 154 pounds)

Martinez won this championship in its last match when it wascreated via technical knockout at 3:00 of round 8 over Alex Bunema on October 4, 2008 on the same card that saw Angulo dominate Tsurkan. The match was stopped when the doctor ruled Bunema was unfit to continue in the corner after round 8 due to an accumulation of punches. Martinez entered the match lightly regarded, but showed amazing speed that prompted HBO's Jim Lampley to compare him to Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya in their prime at 154 pounds. The full recap of that match with a detailed explanation of why this title exists can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/2/27/recap-of-sergio-martinez-vs-alex-bunema.html Martinez is making his first defense of this championship.

The champion began his pro boxing career in 1997 in his native Argentina. There he faced a steady diet of opposition with very good records that were not very good boxers. Then he moved to Madrid, Spain, where he would continue that pattern.

However, there was one significant break from this pattern as Martinez honed his craft. As a rising prospect, Martinez' first match outside of Argentina was on the undercard of the Erik Morales vs. Marco Antonio Barrera PPVf rom the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas on February 19, 2000 against another opponent with a presumably built up record who was not that good. Unfortunately, the boxer from Tijuana, Mexico that was being fed to Martinez was a good boxer. "The Tijuana Tornado" Antonio Margarito gave Martinez the only loss of his career that night. Margarito stopped Martinez with a technical knockout 2:57 into round 7. It is unclear if Margarito had loaded hand wraps in that match, or if it would have mattered. Martinez has recently said it would not have mattered if Margarito was using loaded hand wraps in that match. At that point, Margarito was a far superior boxer to Martinez and did not need any help to beat the Argentinean.

Martinez is The Ring's number 6 contender at 154 pounds to their vacant championship in the weight class.

Cintron began his amateur combat sports career on the mat, as an amateur wrestler in Pennsylvania. The challenger turned down full athletic scholarships to Big 10 schools The Ohio State University and University of Wisconsin. Instead, Cintron went to junior college and took tenth at nationals his Freshman year. However, Cintron severely injured his knee after that. The knee injury forced him to end his wrestling career. Cintron then decided to box and turned pro with almost no amateur boxing experience.

Cintron is entering this match as a late replacement. Joe Greene was originally scheduled to challenge for the belt here, but developed a kidney stone and was forced to pull out on January 17.

Cintron's 2 losses have both come at the hands of the same boxer who holds the lone defeat over Martinez, Margarito. Cintron is now looking to have both of those losses overturned, because of Margarito's recent suspension for attempting to use loaded hand wraps in California. The first match was April 23, 2005 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. In that match, Cintron looked confused by Margarito from the onset of the match. Margarito dropped Cintron 4-times, before Cintron's corner threw in the towel to save their boxer 2:12 into round 5. Margarito's hand wraps were probably loaded for that match, since he was with his current trainer. Whether or not Margarito used loaded hand wraps probably would have had no effect on the outcome of that match. It would have still been Margarito via stoppage, but the length of the match may have changed. Margarito was much better then Cintron at that point in their careers. Cintron is appealing this outcome to the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The second match took place on April 12, 2008 at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey. It would be very surprising if Margarito's hand wraps were not loaded for this match and here it could have made a difference. This time Cintron started fast winning the opening round. Margarito then began to fight dirty. He hit Cintron low several times and began to go hard after Cintron's body. Cintron employed some terrible defense, by bending forward and turtling. This allowed Margarito to hit Cintron on the back of the head. Finally, Margarito stopped Cintron with a left to the body that dropped the Pennsylvanian for a 10-count 1:57 into round 6. Margarito was probably still good enough to defeat Cintron without the aid of illegal hand wraps. However, no one will ever know. Cintron said after each match with Margarito that he had never faced a boxer who hit as hard as Margarito, which in hindsight makes sense. Cintron has appealed this decision to the New Jersey State Athletic Commission. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/2/27/recap-of-kermit-cintron-vs-antonio-margarito-ii.html

Cintron's last match was a 12-round unanimous decision over Lovemore N'dou on November 15, 2008 at Vanderbilt University Memorial Gymnasium in Nashville, Tennessee.

Cintron is unranked by The Ring, and currently boxrec.com's number 7 ranked boxer in the world at 147 pounds.

At 29-years-old, Cintron is 4 years younger then the 33-year-old Martinez. Cintron has the height advantage standing 5' 11" tall, while Martinez stands 5' 10" tall. Martinez has the reach advantage with a 75" wingspan, compared to the 74" wingspan of Cintron. Both boxers have unofficially rehydrated to 164 pounds approaching match time. The champion will employ the southpaw stance and the challenger will box out of the orthodox stance.

Two of the judges keeping official score of this match from ringside are from Florida and the other is from New Jersey. The referee is Frank Santore.

Martinez appears to land more clean punches in winning round 1, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for the busier Cintron, 10-9. Cintron wins an uneventful round 2, 10-9. There has been an astonishing amount of holding and very little punching for 2 boxers that have seemed to be action style boxers. Therefore, the crowd turned on this match 1 minute into round 1, and have been half-heartedly booing the match ever since. (This is a quiet crowd that does not appear capable of more then half-hearted cheering or booing.) Cintron wins round 2 on the Lederman scorecard, 10-9. Round 3 is awful. Cintron landed a clean body shot that may have been good enough to earn him that dreadful round 3, 10-9. After 3 rounds, Cintron leads on my scorecard, 29-28. Lederman gives round 3 to Martinez, 10-9, but has Cintron ahead on his scorecard after 3 rounds, 29-28.

The champion wins a slightly better round 4, 10-9. Martinez takes round 4 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. With around 2:20 to go in round 5, Cintron is cut above his left eye. The cut was caused by a straight left hand from Martinez. The cut appears to be dripping blood directly into the challenger's eye. Cintron is constantly trying to wipe away the blood from the cut with his glove during round 5. Martinez wins round 5, 10-9. Through 5 rounds, Martinez has landed 42 of the 198 total punches he has thrown, for a 21% total connect percentage. Through 5 rounds, Cintron has landed 36 of the 266 total punches he has thrown, for a dismal 14% total connect percentage. Through 5 rounds, neither boxers' total connects have matched the number of power connects Angulo scored in round 3 on Rivera (51). The cut above Cintron's left eye is bad. It is underneath the eyebrow and moderately wide. It is not as bad as Angulo's cut was in the first match. However, this is the type of cut a veteran like Martinez could work on to get a stoppage victory. Martinez is more of a boxer, though and the male model's style is not geared toward working over cuts. To continue a night of bad refereeing, the official call is incorrect. The referee is ruling that the cut was caused by an accidental clash of heads. That means it would be a bad idea for Martinez to go after the cut, because a premature stoppage may cost him the title. Lederman scores round 5 for Martinez, 10-9. Martinez wins round 6, 10-9. After 6 rounds, Martinez leads on my scorecard, 58-56. The champion wins round 6 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9, and is ahead in the match on the Lederman scorecard after 6 rounds, 58-56.

With 11 seconds to go in round 7, a straight left to the jaw draws an audible gasp from Cintron. The challenger then voluntarily backs up and takes a knee to recover as Martinez was charging in to follow up on the damaging blow. Cintron started to get up at 9, but did not beat the referee's count. The vanquished challenger is arguing that he was downed by a headbutt and the match should continue. However, the referee is signaling that the match is over. On replay it is clear, there was no clash of heads. It was a straight left hand that put Cintron down for the count. The referee is now saying that Cintron was up at 9 and the match is going to continue. The referee was waving that the round was over with the same motion that he signals a match is over. Apparently, the referee was using special hand signals to signal for Cintron to go back to his corner. Therefore, Martinez wins round 7 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-8. This has given Cintron over 2 minutes to recover. Once the ring was cleared there was an additional delay to return the scorecards to the judges, because they had already been collected. The Florida commission is telling the HBO broadcasters that Cintron was saved by the bell. That is theoretically not possible, because under the unified rules of boxing a competitor cannot be saved from a knockout by the bell in any round. However, they seem to be largely making up the rules as they go along here, so it does not matter. On replay, the referee counts to 10 and says, "It's over." Then he waves his arms in the air in the normal fashion a referee would do to signal the end of a match. The referee then begins to point and walk Cintron back to his corner as would be customary to do for a boxer that has just been knocked out. It is pretty clear the referee intended to stop the match. Especially, since he made no effort to correct the mistake fora minute or so. It appears someone talked him into restarting the match in that minute. There is no other reasonable explanation. Martinez wins round 8, 10-9. Round 9 is Cintron's best round in a while, but it is not good enough to win the round. Martinez wins round 9, 10-9, and is ahead on my scorecard after 9 rounds, 88-82. Lederman scores round 9 for Martinez, 10-9, and also has the champion leading, 88-82, after 9 rounds.

With 51 seconds to go in round 10, the referee issues Martinez a stern warning for hitting behind the head. The referee says he will take a point from Martinez for the next infraction. Cintron lands some good power punches to take round 10, 10-9. The challenger takes round 10 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Martinez wins round 11 by standing in front of Cintron and throwing combinations with impunity, 10-9. Lederman scores round 11 for Martinez, 10-9. With 2:07 to go in round 12, the referee calls time to deduct a point from Martinez for hitting behind the head. That was a terrible call. The punch that drew the point deduction hit Cintron behind the head, because Cintron ducked. Martinez aimed his punch at Cintron's face, but Cintron ducked the back of his head into the path of the punch creating the illegal blow. Therefore, that should not be a foul. With 1:38 to go in the last round, Cintron hits the canvas, again. The referee rules it was a slip. That is the correct call. However, the referee made the wrong hand gesture for it. He waved his arms vertically in the air, which is how a referee is supposed to signal the end of a match. The proper motion to signal no knockdown is for a referee to wave their arms horizontally, like they are calling a runner safe in baseball. This referee is grossly incompetent and appears to be maliciously trying to swing the match in favor of Cintron. The boxers resume their craft with 1:30 to go in the round. Martinez wins round 12, but with the ridiculous point deduction the round will be scored even 9-9. The champion wins the match on my scorecard, 116-110. The Lederman scorecard has round 12 the same, and Martinez winning the match by the same score.

The official decision courtesy of Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored this match: 116-110 for Martinez, 113-113, 113-113 the match is a majority draw. There was only 1 experienced judge on this panel, the one from New Jersey. He scored the match for Martinez. The 2 inexperienced Florida judges somehow scored this match a draw. Still, Martinez would have won even with the bad Florida judging, except for the terrible point deduction in round 12. On championship advantage the belt stays with, Sergio "Maravilla" Martinez. The draw moves Martinez to 44-1-2 with 24 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstats make this outcome even more baffling. Martinez landed 151 of the 558 total punches he threw, for a 27% total connect percentage. The champion landed 98 of the283 power punches he threw, for a 35% power connect percentage. Cintron landed 103 of the 534 total punches he threw, for a terrible 19% total connect percentage. The junior collegiate wrestler landed 52 of the 186 power punches he threw, for a 28% power connect percentage.

Martinez deserved to win this match. He was better in every way then Cintron. The only salvation in this outcome for him is that he keeps his title on the draw overcoming blatant and apparently purposeful incompetency. There will only be a rematch if Martinez is ordered by the WBC to face Cintron, again. It is unlikely many people will be willing to pay to see this match another time. Therefore, the next logical match is for Martinez to unify his portion of the WBC belt with Vernon Forrest's portion of the WBC belt. This performance got Martinez moved up in The Ring rankings at 154 pounds to be their number 5 contender in the weight class.

Cintron was mediocre in this match and fortunate to be given the draw. He would be best off returning to 147 pounds and rebuilding his career there. Cintron's reflexes appeared slow and he rarely appeared mentally in the match. A lot of this can be credited to Martinez. Despite this bad performance, it appears Cintron may headline the June 13 PPV from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York against Miguel Cotto in his next match. (There is going to be a lot more on the scheduled Cotto PPV in June in the next recap.)

3. IBF/WBA/WBO Lightweight (135 pounds) 12-Round Championship Match:

Nate Campbell (32-5-1, 25 KO's, 137.5 pounds) vs. Ali Funeka (30-1-2, 25 KO's, 133.5 pounds)

Campbell won these belts in his last match, a 12-round split decision victory over Juan Diaz on March 8, 2008 at Plaza de Toros in Cancun, Mexico. Diaz had seemed unbeatable entering the match and was ahead after 5 rounds, when a left hand from Campbell cut Diaz badly over the left eye. The referee incorrectly ruled that Campbell cut Diaz with a headbutt and deducted the Floridian a point. However, Diaz was not the same after he was cut. Campbell appeared to win round 6 and the remaining 6 rounds of the match to score a surprising upset. More shocking then the upset was the fact that 1 judge managed to give the match to Diaz. Diaz and his corner were working to get the match sent to the scorecards early on a cut stoppage. Starting in round 8, they knew Diaz was beaten and he spent the last several rounds only boxing to survive not win. Diaz appeared as surprised as anyone when finding out he had only lost via split decision after being dominated. Diaz had beaten his last two opponents by breaking their will. In this match, Campbell broke Diaz' will. A full recap of that match can be found here: http://www.number1contender.net/the-latest/2009/2/27/recap-of-nate-campbell-vs-juan-diaz.html However, Campbell will not be making his first defense of these titles in this match.

The Floridian failed to make weight for this match. In his initial try to make 135 pounds, Campbell tipped the scales at 138 pounds. He was given 2 hours to lose the weight and weigh-in, again. On Campbell's second and final attempt to make weight, the champion came in at 137.5 pounds. Upon failing to make weight a second time, Campbell announced he was moving up to 140 pounds.

The IBF and WBO have both stripped Campbell of his titles. Funeka had the option to try and negotiate for a percentage of Campbell's $240,000 purse to go through with the match. Typically in this situation a boxer will get 10% of his opponent's purse, when the opponent fails to make weight. However, Funeka did not elect to take any of Campbell's purse. Funeka had the option to pull out entirely. Instead, he will compete with the opportunity to win all of thebelts in this match. The belts are not on the line for Campbell in this match. Regardless of the outcome, Campbell will be leaving the ring empty handed.

This is ironic, because Campbell was scheduled to make his first scheduled title defense against Joan Guzman in September, except that time the challenger failed to make weight. Guzman said he was so physically drained from his attempt to make weight, that he could not compete even at a higher catch-weight as Campbell was willing to do. Therefore, Guzman pulled out of the match and cost Campbell a $300,000 payday. Losing that payday forced Campbell to file bankruptcy a few weeks later.

Campbell entered this match as The Ring magazine's number 1 contender at 135 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Juan Manuel Marquez.

Funeka is receiving this title shot as the mandatory challenger to Campbell's IBF Championship.

The challenger is a resident of East London, South Africa and is boxing for the first time professionally outside of South Africa. Actually, his last 13 matches have all been in East London and all were wins. Funeka's last match outside East London was a round 3 technical knockout victory over the 5 win Sello Hanong in a scheduled 6-rounder on July 11, 2003. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starring current second term California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was the top movie at the box office in the United States going into that weekend.

The South African's only loss came outside of East London. He dropped a 12-round unanimous decision to Mzonke Fana on July 12, 2002 at the Oliver Tambo Sport Centre in Khayelitsha, South Africa.

Funeka's last match was a round 4 knockout victory over Zahir Raheem on July 5, 2008 at Jan Smuts Stadium in East London, South Africa.

Funeka is currently The Ring's number 6 contender at 135 pounds

At 30-years-old, Funeka is 6 years younger then the 36-year-old Campbell. Funeka is a giant 135-pounder and will have the height advantage in this match standing 6' 1" tall, while Campbell stands 5' 7" tall. The South African has the reach advantage with a 72" wingspan, compared to the 70" wingspan of Campbell. Despite missing weight Campbell will be the lighter boxer in the ring. Funeka has unofficially rehydrated to 149 pounds approaching match time. Meanwhile, Campbell has only rehydrated to 147 pounds approaching match time. The former champion claimed that he was close enough to 135 pounds that he should have been able to make it. However, his body just shut down on him after 2 days in the sauna and refused to drop the extra weight. These numbers would seem to back up that claim. Both boxers will employ the orthodox stance.

The official judges keeping score of this match from ringside are from the United States, South Africa and Canada. The referee is Tommy Kimmons.

Funeka uses his superior size to win round 1, 10-9. Lederman scores round 1 for Campbell, 10-9. Campbell landed a right hand that had Funeka badly hurt with 55 seconds to go in round 2. The former champion pressed his advantage and dropped Funeka to the mat with another huge right hand with 37 seconds to go in the round. Funeka stands at 9, and is allowed to continue with 22 seconds to go in the round. However, Funeka's legs are still not under him at this point. Funeka finishes round 2 standing after enduring several more right hooks from Campbell. The Floridian wins round 2 big on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-8. At the end of round 2, Campbell was cut over the right eye. It had to be from an unintentional clash of heads, because Funeka did not throw any punches in the last few seconds. Campbell lands the harder punches to win round 3, 10-9. After 3 rounds, Campbell leads on my scorecard, 29-27. Lederman scores round 3 for Campbell, 10-9, and has the former champion ahead in the match after 3 rounds, 30-26.

Funeka is busier then Campbell in round 4. Therefore, Funeka wins round 4, 10-9. Lederman, also scores round 4 for Funeka, 10-9. Funeka out-works Campbell to win round 5, 10-9. Campbell has gotten right hand happy in the last few rounds. He is continually looking to land another big right hook like the 2 that damaged Funeka in round 2. That is causing Campbell to neglect throwing any other punches. Funeka is using the break from having his body worked over to throw jabs and work the body of Campbell. The South African takes round 5 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9. Campbell was more aggressive at the start of round 6, but did not maintain the pace. That allowed Funeka to win round a close round 6, 10-9, and Funeka is now ahead on my scorecard, 57-56. At the end of round 6, Campbell has some swelling around his left eye. It is not effecting his vision and would have to get much worse to be a problem for the boxer. Lederman scores round 6 for Funeka, 10-9, but the knockdown has Campbell ahead on the Lederman scorecard after 6 rounds, 57-56.

Funeka continues to out-work Campbell and wins round 7 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. With 46 seconds to go in round 8, Funeka slips on the advertising in the center of the mat and both of his gloves touch the canvas. The referee correctly rules it a slip and the action is quickly resumed. Campbell landed a few good power punches that might be enough to win an uneventful round 8, 10-9. Lederman scores round 8 for the busier Funeka, 10-9. Funeka solidly wins round 9, 10-9. After 9 rounds, Funeka is ahead on my scorecard, 86-84. Campbell is beginning to bleed out of his nose. It appears Campbell is already having stamina problems. Losing the ability to breath out of his nose is only going to make him fatigue quicker in every round. Funeka takes round 9 on Lederman's scorecard, 10-9, and after 9 rounds the South African has pulled ahead in the match on the Lederman scorecard, 86-84.

Campbell gets out-worked by Funeka, again in round 10. Therefore, the South African wins round 10 on Lederman and my scorecard, 10-9. With 1:13 to go in round 11, Campbell landed the right hook he had been looking for since round 2 and had Funeka hurt badly. The Floridian followed up and sent Funeka into a delayed fall that saw the South African hit the canvas with 1:07 to go in the round. That is the first knockdown Campbell has ever scored past round 10. The referee allows Funeka to continue with 57 seconds to go in the round, but the South African looks to be in bad shape. Funeka is able to hold on and last out round 11. However, Campbell wins round 11 on everyone's scorecard, 10-8. Campbell does some good body punching to win round 12, 10-9. The match ends in a draw on my scorecard, 113-113. Lederman also scored round 12 for Campbell, 10-9, and ended up with the match being a draw on his scorecard, 113-113.

The official decision courtesy of Michael Buffer is that the judges have scored this match: 113-113, that is overruled by the scores of 115-111, 114-112 both for the winner by way of majority decision, "The Galaxy Warrior" Nate Campbell. The win moves Campbell to 33-5-1 with 25 wins coming by way of knockout.

The final punchstat numbers have Campbell landing 250 of the 636 total punches he threw, for a 39% total connect percentage. Campbell landed 197 of the 398 power punches he threw, for an outstanding 49% power connect percentage. Funeka landed 227 of the 938 total punches he threw, for a 24% total connect percentage. The South African landed 143 of the 481 power punches he threw, for a 30% power connect percentage.

Campbell said in his post match interview that he was fatigued from trying to make weight and ran out of gas in about round 5. The former champion nearly broke down in tears saying how upset he was to lose his titles on the scales. Campbell vowed to make up for it by capturing more titles at 140 pounds.

The Floridian really struggled to pull out a win in this match. Campbell faced a taller, longer opponent in this match, and still managed to win. The judges scoring was perfectly reasonable. Round 6 or 7, could have been scored for Campbell. Scoring that with all of the rounds Lederman and I scored for Campbell gives the Floridian the win via the 115-111 score. Campbell is now The Ring's number 10 contender at 140 pounds to their champion in the weight class, Ricky Hatton. This was Campbell's last match being promoted by King. The boxer is expected to sign with Golden Boy Promotions very soon. The first match they will probably look to make for Campbell is a match against the winner of the April 4, Timothy Bradley vs. Kendall Holt 140-pound title unification match.

Funeka was good in this match, but lost in controversial fashion to a boxer that came in with an unfair weight advantage. The South African's next match should be for the vacant IBF title against another contender in East London. With a win there, Funeka could build up a name defending that title on other HBO Boxing After Dark events.

This was a bad event to watch. The boxing action was not entertaining. The first match featured dangerously irresponsible corner work and refereeing. The second match featured what appeared to be refereeing with an intent to change the outcome of the match. The judging by the Florida officials was baffling. It added to this event being an embarrassment. The main event was a largely a boring match. Unless a viewer was looking for a show to get righteously indignant about, this was not worth watching. Even then it is probably outside the top 3 boxing events worthy of outrage within the last 6 months. That is a really sad comment about boxing.

News and Notes: Ricardo Mayorga had already been advanced a sizable amount of money from King in expectation that he would face Angulo on this event. It was King who pulled the $300,000 check from Campbell for his canceled match with Guzman. King is going to get his money back from Mayorga. This could be an ugly fight. It is unwise to take money from a promoter (or pretty much anyone) that has been convicted of killing 2 people and not deliver.

The Chad Dawson-Antonio Tarver rematch set for March 14 on HBO has been postponed. Dawson has suffered ligament damage in his right hand. The hand was put in a soft cast and he is going to be forced to miss 2 weeks of training. Dawson will be ready to go in mid-April. However, the match will take place on May 9 and presumably air as a double-header with the replay of the Manny Pacquiao vs. Ricky Hatton match from the week before.

HBO is going to heavily program against the first Strikeforce show on Showtime on April 11. First, they are premiering a documentary on the legendary "Thrilla in Manila" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Then they are producing a huge boxing show featuring Paul Williams vs. Winky Wright. To cap that off, they are going to air the first episode in Pacquiao/Hatton 24/7 series. Somehow this does not seem like an accident that this all happened on the night of the first Strikeforce show on rival channel Showtime.

Rafael Marquez is preparing to make his return to the ring following his brutal thrillogy with Israel Vazquez that endedon March 1, 2008.Marquez will return either this month or next month in a tune up match in Mexico. He plans to return to the United with a major match later this year, even possibly to face Israel Vazquez for a fourth time.

There is a movement to add women's boxing to the 2012 London Summer Olympics. Currently of the 26 sports contested at the Summer Olympics, boxing is the only male sport with no female equivalent. Wrestling had been the other sport with no women's division. However, women's wrestling was added to the Olympics at the 2004 Athens Olympics. Since, London is looking to have an Olympiad that does not discriminate in any way, there is a good chance this good happen.(For the record, the only Winter Olympic sport with no women's division is ski jumping. Also, softball,and baseball are still out of the Olympics starting in 2012.)

The next recap will be coming out soon covering the February 27 ShoBox event featuring Tomasz Adamek defending The Ring and IBF Championships at 200 pounds against Jonathon Banks.

 
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.