Originally Published: July 10, 2006
Scorecard: Spinks prevails at home ... barely
Dan Rafael recaps last weekend's notable boxing results from around the world.
A roundup of last weekend's notable boxing results from around the world:
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Cory Spinks W12 Roman Karmazin Scores: 115-113 (twice), 114-114. Wins a junior middleweight title. |
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Records: Spinks, 35-3; Karmazin, 34-2-1 |
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Rafael's remark: The last time Spinks fought, 17 months ago, he danced and grooved his way into the ring only to be knocked out by Zab Judah in losing the undisputed welterweight title in front of a hometown crowd of more than 22,000 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis. Making his return as a 154-pounder, Spinks again danced and grooved his way into the ring in front of only 12,018 at the Savvis Center, but this time he sent them home happy as he eked out a majority decision to become a two-division champion.
Spinks is never going to be a true crowd-pleaser anywhere but in St. Louis because he is so defensive and lacks pop. But his smooth boxing style was good enough to hold off Karmazin, who ended his own year-long layoff and lost the title he won from Kassim Ouma last summer in his first defense. The fight was extremely close, one that probably should have been a draw. Spinks opened an early lead, which Russia native Karmazin closed in the later rounds. The fight was dead even heading into the final round. Here's where the problem with the scoring arises: Spinks spent the final three minutes literally running -- fleeing is more like it -- from Karmazin in a desperate attempt not to get hit. Spinks had earlier tasted Karmazin's power and been hurt, and he didn't want to engage and risk getting knocked out again. Two of the judges rightfully gave Karmazin the round, but German judge Manfred Kuchler gave the 12th to Spinks, which is unconscionable. Had Kuchler scored the round properly (and this was an easy round to score), Karmazin would have retained the title on a majority draw. Nonetheless, Spinks got the victory, one that brought him to tears in his postfight interview. Given how potential opponents for Floyd Mayweather Jr. keep falling by the wayside, it seems possible that we could see Mayweather step up to 154 pounds and challenge Spinks in the fall. He's available and would love the big payday that would go with fighting Mayweather. Spinks also has the speed and defense to give Mayweather some problems. |
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Randy Griffin W12 Maselino Masoe Scores: 117-110, 116-111 (twice). Title eliminator. |
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Records: Griffin, 24-1-2; Masoe, 26-4 |
| Rafael's remark: Philadelphia's Griffin dropped Masoe in the third round (described by those at ringside as more of a knockdown due to Masoe being off balance than a knockdown caused by a truly hard punch) and boxed his way to a decision against the former titlist from New Zealand. The victory makes Griffin the mandatory challenger for Germany's Felix Sturm, who won his paper title against Masoe in March. Maybe now, with his second loss in a row, we can be rid of Masoe for good. He's been a recent poster child for fighters who get title bouts without doing a thing to earn them. |
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Jean-Marc Mormeck TKO4 Sebastian Hill |
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Records: Mormeck, 32-3, 22 KOs; Hill, 10-13-1 |
| Rafael's remark: In January, Mormeck, of France, was knocked out in the 10th round by O'Neil Bell in their fight for the undisputed title. This was Mormeck's first start since. He was matched with a journeyman opponent in Hill, and after a slow start, Mormeck stepped on the gas in the third round, when he dropped Hill with a combination. Mormeck continued to tag him in the fourth until the referee halted the fight. Mormeck could find himself back in a title fight as soon as his next bout, possibly in a rematch with Bell if a potential Bell-Chris Byrd fight does not come off. |
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Daniel Santos TKO1 Will Evans |
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Records: Santos, 30-3-1, 21 KOs; Evans, 8-9 |
| Rafael's remark: Santos was one of four former titlists on the card appearing in their first bout since losing a title (the others: Spinks, Masoe and Mormeck). In December, Sergei Dzindziruk outpointed Santos in Germany to win a 154-pound title belt. In his return, Santos needed only 52 seconds to get back in the win column as he cracked cannon fodder Evans with a left hand. Although Evans was able to beat the count, he was not in position to continue and the referee stopped the fight. Given that Santos and junior middleweight title holders Spinks and Jose Antonio Rivera are all promoted by Don King, Santos figures to get another title shot eventually. |
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William Joppy TKO5 Jonathan Corn |
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Records: Joppy, 37-4-1, 28 KOs; Corn, 44-15-2 |
| Rafael's remark: Joppy, a former middleweight titlist, was all the way up at 176 pounds, a weight at which he probably can't be competitive against top fighters. Fortunately, Corn is far from a top fighter, and Joppy handled him with ease. He dropped Corn with a body shot in the opening round. In the fifth, Joppy dished out a beating until dropping Corn with a right hand and forcing the referee to stop the bout. |
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Devon Alexander TKO1 Tyler Ziolkowski |
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Records: Alexander, 9-0, 4 KOs; Ziolkowski; 8-4 |
| Rafael's remark: Alexander, 19, is trained and managed by Spinks' trainer/manager, Kevin Cunningham. The St. Louis native has been one of the few jewels in Don King's prospect-thin stable. It took him just 2:40 to dismiss Ziolkowski, a 22-year-old coming off a second-round knockout loss to Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in April. |
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Matt Skelton W12 Danny Williams Scores: 117-112 (twice), 115-114. Wins Commonwealth heavyweight title. |
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Records: Skelton, 20-1; Williams, 36-5 |
| Rafael's remark: What the heck was Williams thinking? When he first met 255-pound Skelton in February, Williams weighed 267 pounds and won a split decision in an exciting fight. In a May stay-busy fight, Williams -- who gained fame with a knockout win of Mike Tyson and a subsequent knockout loss to then-champ Vitali Klitschko -- weighed 263 pounds. For the rematch with Skelton, who again scaled 255 pounds, a poorly conditioned Williams weighed a whopping 288, and was clearly not in the kind of condition he needed to be in to give himself the best chance to win. In the first fight, Skelton engaged Williams in a brawl, and it didn't work. So this time he boxed the slower, plodding Williams to win the decision. Talk in England is that the victory might be good enough to vault Skelton into a title fight with Nicolay Valuev in December. |
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Enzo Maccarinelli TKO9 Marcelo Dominguez Wins a vacant interim cruiserweight title. |
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Records: Maccarinelli, 24-1, 18 KOs; Dominguez, 40-7-1 |
| Rafael's remark: Maccarinelli scored his career-best victory in defeating the former champion from Argentina. He dropped Dominguez with a right uppercut in the ninth round, and the fight was over moments later when he got to his feet, but was unsteady. It was the first time in his long career that Dominguez had been stopped. He made five title defenses during his 1995-97 reign, and eventually moved up to heavyweight, where he lost a decision to future titlist Nicolay Valuev in 2004. Now back at cruiserweight, Dominguez and Maccarinelli were vying for an interim title made available due to the knee injury suffered by titlist Johnny Nelson. The win means Nelson, 39, will have to fight Maccarinelli when he returns from the injury, probably in October. It's a classic crossroads match between Great Britain's old lion and its rising star. |
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Amir Khan TKO2 Colin Bain |
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Records: Khan, 8-0, 6 KOs; Bain, 9-2-1 |
| Rafael's remark: England's uber-prospect Khan, a 2004 Olympic silver medalist, scored a first-round knockdown with a body blow and then scored two more knockdowns in the second round to end matters. This was Khan's first bout since a recent arrest for dangerous driving that resulted in a pedestrian suffering a broken leg. Khan, still just 19 and a pro for only 12 months, hopefully can stay under control outside the ring because he has a huge future if he can stay out of trouble. He is scheduled to return Sept. 2. |
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Joel Casamayor TKO9 Lamont Pearson |
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Records: Casamayor, 33-3-1, 21 KOs; Pearson, 23-4-1 |
| Rafael's remark: Casamayor, a former junior lightweight titlist, desperately wants a rubber match with lightweight champion Diego Corrales. But, according to Corrales, Casamayor didn't do nearly enough to earn another shot with his so-so performance against Pearson. Corrales was watching the fight from his vantage point as the ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" studio guest, and he and Casamayor engaged in some entertaining smack talk after the fight, during which Corrales said he wasn't interested in another fight with his old rival. Casamayor struggled for the first five or six rounds against Pearson until taking over. In the ninth, the referee asked for Pearson's swollen right eye to be checked. Although the eye was not closed, Pearson really didn't want to continue and the fight was stopped. |
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Julio Cesar Garcia TKO2 Grover Wiley |
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Records: Julio Cesar Garcia, 37-2, 30 KOs; Grover Wiley, 30-8-1 |
| Rafael's remark: Believe it or not, Garcia is just 19 despite already having 39 pro fights to his credit. Like many Mexican fighters, he turned pro at a very early age, doing so just a few days after turning 15. Boxing junkies who like to watch tape-delayed fight cards from Mexico on Spanish-language television at 2 a.m. have certainly seen Garcia a few times, but this was his introduction to an American audience watching on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights." Garcia was impressive as he dropped Wiley twice in the first round and again in the second to stop the man who retired the great Julio Cesar Chavez in September 2005. Let's hope Garcia is back on ESPN2 quickly. When he is, don't miss him. |
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Antonio Escalante TKO9 Alex "Ali" Baba |
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Records: Escalante, 13-1, 8 KOs; Baba, 22-10-1 |
| Rafael's remark: Escalante, 21, beat up the long-faded Baba, 36, for nine rounds until he retired on his stool. Baba once challenged for a flyweight title in 2003, but that was when he was 10 pounds lighter. At his age and weight he can no longer compete, as his 1-7-1 recent tailspin illustrates. This was simply a record-padder for Escalante, who is an exciting young prospect. |
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.
