By Rick Reeno
The wait is over for heavyweight title contenders Hasim Rahman (40-5, 33 KOs) and Monte Barrett (31-3, 17 KOs). Both men will meet in the ring later tonight to determine the mandatory challenger to Vitali Klitschko's WBC heavyweight title.
The predictions from both fighters sound exactly the same. Rahman and Barrett have mapped out their plans for fireworks in the early rounds in order to win the fight by knockout. The fight may turn into a battle of who is better at taking the other man's punches. The chin factor will likely play a very significant role in this fight. The WBC heavyweight interim title will be awarded to the winner.
There are four other matchups on the pay per view event, including two world championship bouts.
In a battle of former welterweight champions, Ricardo Mayorga (26-5-1, 22 KOs) makes his grand return to the rings when he face Michele Piccirillo (44-2, 28 KOs) for the vacant WBC super welterweight championship. Piccirillo has never been stopped and holds victories over Rafael Pineda and Mayorga conqueror Cory Spinks.
Luis Collazo (25-1, 11 KOs), fresh off his fight of the year caliber win over Jose Rivera, defends the WBA welterweight title against former WBC champion Miguel Angel Gonzalez (49-4-1, 39 KOs).
Alejandro Garcia (24-1, 23 KOs) fights Luca Messi (28-5-1, 11 KOs) in a WBA super welterweight interim championship bout.
Przemyslaw Saleta (42-6, 21 KOs) takes on former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver McCall (44-8, 31 KOs). Both men are from Chicago, but Saleta's Polish fans should be in full force to support him in this bout.
Round by Round Coverage has started!
Barry Tompkins is doing the play by play tonight with the legendary George Foreman.
WBA welterweight champion Luis Collazo faces Miguel Angel Gonzalez in the first bout. There will numerous updates throughout the show. There will be round by round coverage of the main event and the return of Ricardo Mayorga.
Miguel Angel Gonzalez said that he may retire if he does not win tonight.
Jimmy Lennon Jr. is the announcer tonight.
Very pro Gonzalez crowd, Gonzalez is praying on his knees in his corner.
There is already blood under the left eye of Gonzalez, we are in the first round and Collazo is peppering Miguel with crisp punches.
Results earlier tonight.
In a junior middleweight contest, Robert Kamya (14-5, 4 KOs) defeated Alex Bunema (26-5-2, 12 KOs) by way of a majority decision. Kamya was dropped in the third round and lost a point for low blows in the seventh. The scores were 115-112 Kamya, 114-112 Kamya and 113-113 draw.
In a lightweight contest, Matt Zegan (36-1, 21 KOs) stopped Jesus Perez (24-11-2) when Perez would not answer the bell of the seventh round. Perez was dropped 4 times in the contest, three of those knockdowns took place in round 6.
In a battle of heavyweights, Volodia Lazebnik (8-0, 5 KOs) stopped Mike Middleton (15-15-1) in two rounds. Middleton was dropped three times in the fight.
In a middleweight contest, Josiah Judah (4-0, 1 KO) beat Adam Stewart (2-10-2) by way of a four round split decision. The scores were 40-36, 39-37 Judah, 39-37 Stewart.
There was just an interview with Ricardo Mayorga. Mayorga said that he hopes Fernando Vargas wins next week so he can knock him out and retire Vargas from boxing.
We are going in fourth round of the Collazo-Gonzalez bout and Collazo is landing about 5 punches to one right. Collazo is ten years younger then Gonzalez and that factor is really showing. Gonzalez has had three warnings for low blows already, I see a point deduction coming very soon.
I'm not sure what Gonzalez is doing, he has literally dropped his hands to his waist in the fourth round and is taking the best shots Collazo can throw.
We are going into the sixth round right now. Collazo is winning in a near wipeout right now. Gonzalez has spurts here and there, but not nearly enough. Left eye of Gonzalez is getting puffy.
The Gonzalez corner just threw the towel in prior to the start of the 8th round. Collazo wins by way a 8th round TKO. Let's hope for his sake, Gonzalez retires.
The next bout will feature Polish heavyweight Przemyslaw Saleta (42-6, 21 KOs) taking on former WBC heavyweight champion Oliver McCall (44-8, 31 KOs).
The very Polish crowd is going crazy for Saleta. McCall looks like a crazy man coming to the ring, he appears to be in a trance.
McCall looks like he is ready to cry as they are announcing him to the crowd. I hope he doesnt have another mental breakdown.
McCall just jumps on Saleta at the start of the first round and bombs away, the two men are throwing some big blows so far.
We are in the third round, Saleta has slowed the fight down with his jab, but he also looks a bit tired already.
McCall is bombing Saleta with monster right hands in the 4th round and Saleta is very hurt. Saleta is down! Saleta is not getting up, he barely gets up to beat the count and the ref has wisely stopped it. McCall with a huge 4th round TKO win over Saleta.
The next fight is the return of Ricardo Mayorga (26-5-1, 22 KOs), taking on Michele Piccirillo (44-2, 28 KOs) for the vacant WBC super welterweight championship. There will be round by round coverage of this fight.
IBF heavyweight champion Chris Byrd and WBO heavyweight champion Lamon Brewster are talking about their upcoming fights and how happy they are for Oliver McCall.
Both heavyweight champions have revealed that they are actually cousins and will not fight eachother unless the fight is to unify the entire division.
Mayorga is coming down to the ring to a very big response from the crowd. Mayorga comes in the ring and kisses the vacant WBC 154 pound title held by a WBC official.
Round 1 - Mayorga comes out throwing some bombs, missing all of them as MP is on the run. Mayorga to the body, still short on his punches to the head. Mayorga with a few jabs coming in and a hard right hand to the body. Mayorga is just winging big shots, but they are about 1 inch off their mark every time. Combo by MP. Right hand lands for Mayorga. MP is moving, Mayorga to the body. Mayorga wins the first round.
Round 2 - Mayorga is jabbing to set up his right hadn, but he keeps missing the big right hand. Mayorga with a right, combo by MP. Mayorga bands a right to the top of MP's head and MP is down. He beats the count and Mayorga is on the attack with big bombs flying all over the place. Another big right and MP is down again, he gets up again and Mayorga comes in throwing more bombs. MP is on the run, they clash heads and it appears MP is cut on the top his skull. Huge 10-7 round for Mayorga.
Round 3 - MP is moving around the ring, MP is jabbing and Mayorga still jabbing to set up his big right hands. Right lands for Mayorga, MP with a counter right. Good combo by MP. MP trying to establish his jab. Right by Mayorga and MP counters with a combo. Counter right by MP. Another right hand lands for MP, bodyshot by Mayorga. Mayorga misses and MP lands a three round combo. Mayorga appears winded and throwing one big punch at a time. Close round that goes to MP.
Round 4 - Mayorga jabbing, big right by Mayorga. MP with a combo.. MP jabbing now. Big combo by MP and a straight right hand drops MP on his behind. MP gets up and appears fine. Mayorga is now trying to land more big right hands. MP with a good three punch combo. Good right by MP, MP with a combo as Mayorga misses. MP jabbing hard right now. Both men miss big punches at the end. Round for MP, due to the knockdown, the round scored on my card is 9-9.
Round 5 - MP with some big right hands. Mayorga seems to be taking this round off as he is just coasting right now and MP is jabbing. The crowd is booing. another round for MP.
Round 6 - Mayorga is jabbing. MP jabbing better and landing some rights behind them. Mayorga getting warned for pushing. Counter left jab by Mayorga. mayorga wth a good right, now an uppercut. MP with a counter right hand. Combo by Mayorga. Mayorga wobbles MP with a right hand, bell rings. Close round for Mayorga.
Round 7 - Both men are jabbing. Mayorga is starting to find his range with the right hand. MP is still on the move and Mayorga is missing a few punches. MP misses a right and Mayorga counters with a big right. Counter right by MP and Mayorga misses three punches. Mayorga with a big right at the bell. Close round that I will give to MP.
Round 8 - Hueg right by Mayorga and MP is hurt and wobbles backward. Mayorga goes for the kill and MP ties him up. MP is on the run and Mayorga signals that this will be the end and starts throwing some big bombs. MP seems to have gotten himself out of danger and is on the run as Mayorga is chasing him and trying to land a homerun swing. Huge right now by MP, and another big right by MP. Now MP with a combo. Left by MP and a big right by Mayorga. Round for Mayorga. This fight is actually much better than I ever thought it could ever be.
Round 9 - MP is sticking the jab to Mayorga. Mayorga taunting MP to keep hitting him with a jab. Huge combo by MP, Mayorga not doing much of anything in the round, other then clowning. Mayorga with a right. Both men exchange combos. MP being warned for roughhouse tactics. Right hand by Mayorga. Another round for MP.
Miguel Angel Gonzalez has just said that it may be time for him to retire.
Round 10 - MP is jabbing. Mayorga is coming forward with big punches and lands a combo. They exchaneg jabs. MP with two lefts. Right the top of MP's head by Mayorga. Another right by Mayorga. MP not doing much in the round, misses a few jabs. Mayorga rushes in with some big punches. Mayorga throwing some more big shots at the end, most of them miss. Round for Mayorga.
Round 11 - Mayorga jabbing to the body. Mayorga chasing MP around and the crowd is booing. MP not throwing and running, giving the round away. Mp with a left. Mayorga and MP exchange combos. MP runs, stops as they exchange shots with Mayorga getting the better of the exchange. Right by Mayorga, left to the body. Round for Mayorga and the crowd boos for a lackluster round.
Round 12 - Mayorga taunting MP to stand and fight with him. MP runs and the crowd boos. Mayorga throwing everything right now, the are hitting eachother with rabbit punches and the ref warns both men. Crowd boos as MP is running again with Mayorga chasing. Mayorga with a combo, MP goes down from Mayorga's foot and the ref calls it a slip. Mayorga with a combo. Round for Mayorga. I have Mayorga winning by a decent margin on my card, due to the 3 knockdowns in the fight. Official scores are coming up.
Unified welterweight champion Zab Judah is with Mayorga right now.
117-110, 117-108 and 120-105 for the winner and NEW WBC 154 pound champion of the world.....Ricardo Mayorga. Mayorga is now going to face the winner of the Vargas-Castillejo bout next weekend.
Main event coming up in a few minutes.
Both men are now in the ring, not a big crowd response for either man. Hasim Rahman vs. Monte Barrett, the winner will become the mandatory challenger to Vitali Klitschko. The national anthem will now get sung.
Round 1 - Barrett jabbing and moving, Rahman taking the lead. Both men jabbing, crowd starts booing. Rahman feeling Barrett out, Barrett just keeps puming the jab. Rahman with a good jab. Rahman jabs and goes to the body. Left by Rahman. Both men jabbing. A lot of holding in the fight, almost like a John Ruiz bout and the crowd is booing. Neither man did much in this round. I scored it an even round. Crowd is giving them hell.
Round 2 - Rahman is now getting off with his jab before Barrett. Barrett moving, misses a combo. Good right hand by Barrett, barrett misses a left. Jab snaps Barrett's head back. Rahman outjabbing Barrett right now and his jab is like a gun right now. Crowd booing loud. Barrett jabbing to the chest of Rahman. Barrett doing a lot of running and Rahman doing plenty of chasing. Crowd is really booing them to death. Scored the round for Rahman.
Round 3 - Barrett jabbing and moving, Rahman misses a combo. Rahman with a combo, but misses. Barrett to the body, Rahman misses his counters. Rahman rushes inside, goes to the body and tries for the head. Barrett with a lefthook going backwards, now lands a right hand. Barrett jabbing, missesa left. Rahman combos and lands a right. Rahman to the body. Close round goes to Rahman, crowd still mad.
Round 4 - Rahman now jabbing with Barrett. Rahman jabs to the body and lands a big right hand to the head on Barrett in the corner. Barrett circles around to get away from Rahman. Rahman lands two lefts to the chest. Rahman to the body and misses to the head. Barrett running and Rahman chasing, Barrett misses a right. Rahman with a left to the body and another. Rahman lands a decent combo. Rahman with another round. This fight is not pretty.
Round 5 - There is a delay, the Rahman corner spilled ice all over their corner. Barrett comes out jabbing, Rahman still pushing him back and lands his own jab. Barrett with a lefthook. Rahman to the head with a left. Barrett turns southpaw and starts jabbing. Rahman misses a combo and Barrett counters with a right hand. Barrett misses a right hadn. Rahman lands a big right, Barrett is wobbled, but gets away from Rahman. Ref Jay Nady is warning Barrett for holding. Rahman just misses a very big left. Round goes to Rahman.
Round 6 - Rahman is now getting more inside and starts headhunting. Barrett to the body and Rahman lands a right. Both men jabbing, Barrett's left eye is swelling. Rahman misses a right. Both en are jabbing and then start holding. Barrett warned for holding. Combo by Rahman. Another round for Rahman, this is a very angry crowd.
Round 7 - Rahman stalking and Barrett ties him up every time her gets close. Barrett warned again for holding. Now both men have been warned for holding. Rahman is just walking Barrett down with his jab right now. Huge right by Barrett coming off the ropes. Rahman took the punch and counters to the body. left jab and right hand has Barrett hurt against the ropes. Barrett ties him up, ref breaks them. Barrett lands a right. Barrett misses a right. Round for Rahman.
Round 8 - Barrett is just running and sticking out the jab at this point as Rahman stalks. Rahman with a right, they clash heads. Lefthook to the body by Rahman. Big left hand for Barrett and a huge right from Rahman sends Barrett into the ropes. Another round for Rahman.
Round 9 - Barrett is cut below the eye. Now it appears that there is a clash of heads and a cut over the left eye of Rahman. Doctor is now looking at Rahman's cut. Fight restarts, Rahman using his jab and walking Barrett down. Barrett is now bleeding above the eye as well. Both men are just standing and staring at eachother for almost 20 seconds, the crowd is going crazy. Close round for Rahman.
Round 10 - Both men are now standing and throwing more punches. Barrett is now throwing a lot of punches. Barrett with a good combo to the head. Barrett's lefteye is swelling bad. Good right for Barrett, Rahman jabs. barrett sneaks in a right hadn. Left hand by Barrett stumbles Rahman back. Rahman with a hard jab pushing Barrett's head back. Close round for Barrett.
Round 11 - Barrett is now starting to throw more power punches but Rahman keeps coming forward like they are nothing. Rahman just walking him down and jabbing as Barrett is running. Crowd is booing and yelling boring. Rahman with another round.
Round 12 - Both men ar winging some big shots, mouthpiece of Barrett flies out. Time called to allow Barrett to get his mouthpiece back in. Barrett lands a hood jab and another. Big right hand by Barrett wobbles Rahman, another big shot by Barrett and Rahman looks like he is in trouble. Barrett for whatever reason is not jumping on him and lets him off the hook. They both miss punches at the bell. Barrett wins the last round, but Rahman easily won this fight. Official scores are coming up.
116-112, 118-110, 118-110 for the winner and mandatory challenger to Vitali Klitschko, Hasim "The Rock" Rahman!
