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A roundup of the past week’s notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Uncasville, Conn.
Sullivan Barrera TKO5 Paul Parker
Light heavyweight
Records: Barrera (19-1, 14 KOs); Parker (8-2, 4 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Despite numerous accidental head butts that rattled both fighters at times in a sloppy fight, Barrera had an easy time with Parker, 32, of Toledo, Ohio, in the HBO Latino-televised main event. Barrera, a 35-year-old former Cuban amateur standout, who fights out of Miami, took this fight after declining to accept the terms of a purse bid for an April 21 world title elimination fight against dangerous Artur Beterbiev (11-0, 11 KOs). Parker proved to be much less of a threat than Beterbiev surely would have been. Barrera, who won his second fight in a row since a one-sided decision loss to Andre Ward 13 months ago, banged heads with Parker in the fourth round and it was so bad that Parker went down and had to be examined by the ringside doctor. In the fifth round, Parker, with swelling over his left eye from the fourth-round head butt, got hurt by a right hand and went down to a knee during Barrera’s follow-up. Moments later it was Barrera who was dazed by a head butt. After he shook it off, he nailed Parker with a left to the chin to drop him again. Then, when he tagged Parker with two right hands and a left and had Parker in big trouble, referee Harvey Dock waved off the fight at 2 minutes, 8 seconds.
Vaughn Alexander W10 Andres Calixto Rey
Middleweight
Scores: 100-89, 99-90 (twice)
Records: Alexander (8-0, 5 KOs); Rey (14-4, 9 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Alexander, 31, of St. Louis, is the older brother of former two-division world titleholder Devon Alexander and once held as much promise as his sibling, but that was before then-welterweight Vaughn went to prison in 2004 for 12 years for armed robbery and assaulting a police officer. He was released last year and has won three fights since, including his second since Main Events took a chance and signed him. His fight with Rey, 34, a Mexico native fighting out of Alice, Texas, was bumped up to the HBO Latino telecast when the original co-feature was called off because of Russian middleweight Arif Magomedov’s illness. Alexander, boxing in his first 10-rounder, dominated despite his distinct lack of combination punching. After multiple warnings for holding and hitting, referee Danny Schiavone penalized Rey one point for the infraction in the 10th round.
Saturday at Glasgow, Scotland
Julius Indongo W12 Ricky Burns
Unifies junior welterweight titles
Scores: 120-108, 118-110, 116-112
Records: Indongo (22-0, 11 KOs); Burns (41-6-1, 14 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: In his first defense, Indongo, a 34-year-old southpaw from Namibia, traveled to Burns’ hometown for a unification fight and not only won but did so in unexpectedly lopsided fashion. Round after round Indongo broke down Burns, 34, a three-division titleholder, who could muster virtually nothing. That one judge gave him four rounds was a stretch. Burns, making his second defense, may have won a couple of late rounds, but he was outclassed. In the 12th round, Indongo appeared to score a knockdown with a right hand that sent Burns to one knee, but referee Steve Gray ruled it a slip. Indongo’s next fight is supposed to be a mandatory defense against Sergey Lipinets (12-0, 10 KOs), 28, of Kazakhstan, if Indongo elects to keep the IBF belt he just won.
Friday at Oxon Hill, Md.
Dmitry Bivol TKO4 Samuel Clarkson — Full recap
Retains an interim light heavyweight title
Records: Bivol (10-0, 8 KOs); Clarkson (19-4, 12 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Bivol, 26, of Russia, with designs on becoming a big name in the United States, made a big impression in his first fight on American television as he retained his interim title for the second time in the main event of Showtime’s “ShoBox: The New Generation.” Bivol, who had a big amateur career (285-15), is very advanced for a guy with so few pro fights and looked great against Clarkson, 26, of Cedar Hill, Texas, who was never in the fight. Bivol looks like a serious player in the loaded light heavyweight division. His next fight is supposed to be a mandatory shot against secondary titlist Nathan Cleverly (30-3, 16 KOs), 30, of Wales. Bivol should be the favorite.
Malik Hawkins TKO2 Carlos Soto — Full recap
Welterweight
Records: Hawkins (11-0, 8 KOs); Soto (13-1-2, 7 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: Hawkins, 21, of Baltimore, is an outstanding prospect and looked great shellacking Soto, 28, of Mexico, in what was a total mismatch. It’s unfortunate because Hawkins had been originally lined up against a pair of far superior opponents but Soto got the call when they both dropped out because of injuries. But Hawkins did what he was supposed to do – give his cheering section a good performance as he took it to Soto from the opening bell, eventually landing a right hand in the first that almost instantaneously raised bad swelling around Soto’s left eye. Soto took a knee for a knockdown later in the round and then the fight was called off after the second round because his eye was too badly damaged. Hawkins, a stablemate of junior lightweight titlist Gervonta Davis, is definitely a prospect to watch.
Glenn Dezurn Jr. W8 Leroy Davila — Full recap
Junior featherweight
Scores: 78-74 (three times)
Records: Dezurn Jr. (9-0, 6 KOs); Davila (5-1, 3 KOs)
Rafael’s remarks: These unbeaten former amateur standouts put on the fight of the night on the “ShoBox: The New Generation” card on Showtime. It was a tremendous shootout but Dezurn, 29, of Baltimore, had a little bit too much for Davila, 28, of New Brunswick, New Jersey. There were great momentum swings and lots of exciting exchanges that had the crowd cheering throughout. It’s no surprise this was good fight. Just look at this stat from CompuBox: 323 of their combined 349 landed punches were power shots. They’d both be a welcome addition to future “ShoBox” cards.
Hasim Rahman Jr. KO1 Ralph Alexander
Heavyweight
Records: Rahman Jr. (1-0, 1 KO); Alexander (0-1)
Rafael’s remarks: Near dawn on a South African morning in April 2001, Hasim Rahman Sr. pulled a massive upset as he knocked out Lennox Lewis in the fifth round to win the heavyweight championship of the world. Sixteen later, almost to the day, his son turned pro. With his father in the corner, Rahman Jr., 25, of Baltimore, did exactly as expected, which was to destroy Lanham, Maryland’s Alexander. Rahman needed only 40 seconds to chop him down with a combination to the head that left him face-first on the mat as referee Bill Clancy waved it off.
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