KO of McCline advances Arreola
Ethan Miller/Getty ImagesCris Arreola, left, passed his first legit test in stopping Jameel McCline. A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
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Paul Williams W12 Winky Wright Scores: 120-108, 119-109 (twice) |
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Records: Williams, 37-1, 27 KOs; Wright, 51-5-1, 25 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: They say what goes around comes around. Just ask Wright, the former undisputed junior middleweight champion and longtime pound-for-pound performer. In 2005, Wright had polished off Shane Mosley in career-defining victories after more than a decade of trying to get a big-name opponent to fight him. After the win against Mosley, Felix Trinidad, in the midst of his return from retirement, gave Wright a chance to fight him. The result was a landslide Wright victory. Wright easily outboxed Trinidad for the lopsided unanimous decision on scores of 120-107 and 119-108 (twice). Those scores are pretty similar to the result of Wright's fight with Williams, but this time it was Wright who was on the receiving end of a one-sided assault from Williams. At 27, Williams notched a most impressive victory. If you weren't convinced before, you must be now -- Williams belongs in the top echelon of the pound-for-pound list. Although Wright, 37, was coming off a 21-month layoff following his 170-pound loss to Bernard Hopkins, he actually fought a very good fight. However, Williams was simply too much for him. Too fast. Too big. Too busy. Too everything. The two-time welterweight titleholder and current interim junior middleweight titlist had trouble landing a marquee match at 147 or 154 pounds, so he moved up to 160 for the fight with Wright and looked awesome. He'd be the favorite against any fighter in the world from 147 to 160 pounds, and that includes against middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and titleholder Arthur Abraham. In fact, Williams would probably beat a lot of the top fighters at 168 pounds, too. Williams takes advantage of his considerable physical gifts. He's a 6-foot-2 southpaw with an apparently good chin, solid defense, stamina to fight all day, respectable power and an incredible 82-inch reach (which is longer than heavyweight titleholder Wladimir Klitschko). On top of that, Williams never stops punching. Against Wright he threw 1,086 in the 12 rounds and threw more in the final round (106) than he did in the first (104). Although Carlos Quintana found a way to defeat an apparently distracted, weight-drained Williams via clear decision in February 2008, that sure looks like an aberration now. Williams has won four in a row since then, including knocking out Quintana in the first round of their rematch and stopping the usually iron-chinned Verno Phillips. Right now, Williams looks all but unstoppable. Nobody has ever taken Wright -- who did fight well -- apart like this before. |
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Cristobal Arreola KO4 Jameel McCline |
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Records: Arreola, 27-0, 24 KOs; McCline, 39-10-3, 23 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Arreola, considered by many to be the leading American heavyweight contender, wants to be the first Mexican-American heavyweight champion, and if he's ever going to get there, this crowd-pleasing knockout was a step in the right direction. Even before the match, Arreola was under strong consideration to be unified titleholder Wladimir Klitschko's opponent in June. Ultimately, Klitschko finalized a deal with former cruiserweight champ David Haye, but that was just fine with Arreola and his handlers. They all know that Arreola, 28, is just not ready for that kind of challenge yet. But McCline, a former four-time title challenger, was exactly the kind of opponent he needed to face: A solid pro with a lot of experience, a recognizable name to the boxing public and a big man with a reasonable shot to win on the big HBO stage. Arreola past the first big test of his career in fine fashion, taking the 38-year-old McCline out in surprisingly easy fashion. Other than being knocked out in the first round in his second pro fight in 1995, McCline has always been durable. His only other stoppage losses came in a 2002 title bout when his corner threw in the towel after 10 rounds against Klitschko and a freakish third-round TKO loss in a title bout to Nikolai Valuev in a fight called off only because McCline suffered a knee injury without being hit. So Arreola must be given credit for knocking McCline down and keeping him down for the full count even if it was McCline's third defeat in his past four bouts. Although Arreola didn't look in top condition, coming in at a flabby 255 pounds (16 heavier than he was for his notable win against Chazz Witherspoon in June 2008), he sure came to fight. Arreola took control late in the first round when a couple of right hands buckled McCline. Although McCline, who was 271 pounds, got in some shots, it was pretty much all Arreola. In the fourth, the hard-charging Arreola landed a left uppercut and two right hands that dropped McCline, who was dazed as he took the full count from referee Tony Weeks. The heavyweight division is slim on quality fighters, but Arreola will probably have to take at least one more fight before he can get a title shot because Wladimir Klitschko's dance card is full for the rest of the year with Haye and then a likely mandatory with Alexander Povetkin. Big brother Vitali Klitschko, who also has a belt, is supposed to face mandatory Oleg Maskaev next, although there is litigation over that ruling. But count on one thing: As long as Arreola, who has a high ranking in multiple organizations, keeps winning he's going to fight for a heavyweight title when one of the Klitschkos comes back to fight in the United States instead of Europe. Does Arreola have a chance to win? He has the power. But he probably needs to get in better physical condition. Whatever happens, though, it's going to be exciting. |
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Danny Garcia W8 Humberto Tapia Scores: 80-72 (twice), 79-73 |
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Records: Garcia, 12-0, 7 KOs; Tapia, 14-10-1, 7 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Philadelphia's Garcia, 21, was a 2006 U.S. national amateur champion and an Olympic trials finalist in 2007 before just missing the Olympic team this past year and turning pro. Golden Boy and manager Shelly Finkel have kept him extremely busy as a pro and have him appearing regularly on major undercards. Although he beat Mexico's Tapia with ease, the usual spark wasn't there. Garcia seemed to forget about his jab and walked right to Tapia. If Tapia, 23, could punch or had better skills, Garcia would have been in trouble. He's still a young prospect with a bright future, but after a dozen fights you'd like to see him continue to improve from fight to fight. With this performance, he seems to have stagnated just a little. Tapia lost for the fourth time in five fights. |
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Shawn Estrada TKO3 Omar Coffi |
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Records: Estrada, 4-0, 3 KOs; Coffi, 1-2-2, 0 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Estrada, the 24-year-old 2008 U.S. Olympian from East Los Angeles, had no problems in his first three pro fights as he wiped everyone out inside a round and barely took a punch in return. Although Coffi, 28, was a late replacement with a weak record, he at least tested Estrada to a degree, which is exactly what promoter Dan Goossen wanted. Estrada looked as though he might make it another first-round knockout when he dropped Coffi in the opening seconds of the fight. However, Coffi was there to give at least his best, and he did. He rallied a bit and actually tagged Estrada with some solid shots. They seemed to wake Estrada up a little and made him realize that at some point in his pro career, he was going to get hit. Estrada dropped Coffi twice near the end of the second round, then attacked him at the start of the third round. After seeing Coffi get smacked around, his trainer threw in the towel and jumped into the ring to save his man. Estrada is strong and a crowd-pleaser, but he's awfully raw. |
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Raul Garcia TKO6 Ronald Barrera Retains a strawweight title |
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Records: Garcia, 26-0-1, 16 KOs; Barrera, 26-6-1, 16 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: When Mexico's Garcia and Colombia's Barrera first met in February 2008, Garcia claimed a wide unanimous decision in a title eliminator and went on to win a belt four months later against Florante Condes. Now, making his third defense, Garcia, 26, met Barrera, 24, in a rematch and had an easier time. Garcia opened a cut in Barrera's right eyebrow in the fifth round. It looked bad and by the end of the round, Garcia's back was covered in blood from it dripping on him when they were in clinches. It was getting worse in the sixth when referee Rafael Ramos stopped the fight. It was Barrera's third loss in a shot at 105-pound title, having previously dropped decisions to Yutaka Niida (2006) and Ivan "Iron Boy" Calderon (2007).
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Nobuo Nashiro TKO8 Konosuke Tomiyama Retains a junior bantamweight title |
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Records: Nashiro, 13-1, 8 KOs; Tomiyama, 18-2, 6 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Japan's Nashiro, 27, retained his belt against his countryman by coming off the deck in the first round and the sixth round to score the comeback knockout when a flurry of punches overwhelmed the 25-year-old Tomiyama. Nashiro had won a 115-pound title in only his eighth professional fight before losing it in his second defense to Alexander Munoz in 2007. However, thanks to the reprehensible World Boxing Association's joy for giving out multiple titles in the same division, Nashiro reclaimed a vacant belt in September, and this was his first defense of the paper title. |
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David Lopez W10 Ossie Duran Scores: 97-93, 96-94 (twice) |
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Records: Lopez, 38-12, 25 KOs; Duran, 23-7-2, 9 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: This was just a good, solid professional fight between hardworking guys. Lopez, who was moving down in weight from middleweight, won his 14th fight in a row during the ESPN2 "Friday Night Fights" main event. The showing was the first under the network's new deal with Golden Boy Promotions, which will promote several more cards on the series this season. Lopez, 31, is a regular at the Desert Diamond Casino, and he fought there for the 12th time. He has developed a loyal fan base in Tucson, and he gave it a fun night with his workmanlike victory against Ghana's Duran, 31. Both guys had their moments, but Lopez seemed to have just a little more energy and snap on his punches as he pounded out the tough win. Duran dropped to 0-2-1 in his past three fights, all of which have come against good opponents: Lopez, James Kirkland and Eromosele Albert. |
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Hector Sanchez W8 DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley Scores: 77-74 (three times) |
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Records: Sanchez, 18-0, 8 KOs; Corley, 33-11-1, 19 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: Puerto Rico's Sanchez, a physical marvel in that he is 6-foot-2 and only 140 pounds, has been touted a prospect. However, his shaky win against Corley, a long-faded junior welterweight titleholder, must give us pause. Even if Corley is not what he once was, he was still the best opponent Sanchez has faced, yet Sanchez looked poor. Oscar De La Hoya, Sanchez's promoter who was ringside, even thought Corley deserved the decision. Corley, 34, dropped Sanchez with an uppercut in the third round, and it is not unreasonable to believe Corley deserved the victory. Corley has lost seven of his past nine fights, but didn't you just love that crazy "Predator" helmet he wore when he came into the ring? |
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Jeff Lacy W10 Otis Griffin Scores: 97-93, 96-94, 95-95 |
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Records: Lacy, 25-2, 17 KOs; Griffin, 19-5-2, 7 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: In November, Lacy lost a lopsided decision to 2000 U.S. Olympic teammate and former middleweight champ Jermain Taylor in what was another in a string of shaky performances for the former super middleweight titlist. In the wake of the loss, Lacy, 31, parted ways with promoter Golden Boy, founded his own promotional company and returned home for his comeback fight with Griffin, a journeyman opponent best known for winning Oscar De La Hoya's short-lived reality series "The Next Great Champ." Griffin, 31, was far from that in reality, but he still gave Lacy all he could handle in a majority decision loss many believe he deserved to win. It was Griffin's fourth defeat in his past five bouts. Clearly, Lacy, who hand-picked Griffin and was expected to dominate in a confidence builder, continues to struggle. You have to wonder whether he can make it back near the top. After the fight, Lacy called for an all-Florida showdown in Tampa with Pensacola's Roy Jones Jr., who was ringside. |
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Vyacheslav Senchenko W12 Yuri Nuzhnenko Wins a welterweight title Scores: 118-110, 116-112 (twice) |
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Records: Senchenko, 29-0, 20 KOs; Nuzhnenko, 28-1-1, 13 KOs |
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Rafael's remark: If ever there were a meaningless sanctioning organization title, this would be it: the WBA's "regular" welterweight title, which is so utterly watered-down it makes the World Boxing Foundation's title look legit. The champion is Shane Mosley, who knocked out Antonio Margarito to win it. However, although Margarito held the belt, the WBA, in its raw greed for additional sanctioning fees, "elevated" Margarito to "super champion." Yet he was not a unified belt holder, which is what someone is supposed to be when the WBA creates a "super champion." If that weren't dumb enough, the WBA doesn't even care whether a titleholder is unified. Leave it to the WBA to ignore any semblance of reality. It simply made Margarito (and now Mosley) its "super champion," and Nuzhnenko won the vacant "regular" title before losing to Ukrainian countryman Senchenko in his second defense. It's utter madness. |
Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.

