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At the World Memorial Hall in Kobe, Hyogo, Japan, WBC bantamweight champion Hozumi Hasegawa (27-2, 11KOs) retained his title with a first round demolition of Nestor Rocha (21-2, 7KOs), ranked at number four by the sanctioning body. Hasegawa rocked Rocha and dropped him twice before the ref called a halt to the fight at 2:28 of the first.
Last Thursday, the big news in Puerto Rico was a game of golf. A game of golf being played by WBO welterweight champion Miguel Cotto and Oscar De La Hoya, owner of Golden Boy Promotions. The two played 18 holes at the Bahia Beach Resort & Golf Club in Puerto Rico. With Cotto's contract running out with Top Rank at the end of year, and De La Hoya owning one of the largest promotional companies in the sport, rumors began to run wild.
At the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, IBF cruiserweight champion Tomasz Adamek (38-1, 26KOs) battered Bobby Gunn (18-4) to pick up a fourth round TKO win. Adamek closed the show by hurting Gunn with a big right in the fourth and then unloading several punches until the bell. The ref stopped the fight prior to the fifth.
At the BankAtlantic Center in Sunrise, Florida, IBF bantamweight champion Joseph Agbeko (27-1, 22 KOs) won a twelve round unanimous decision over WBC/IBF/WBA super flyweight champion Vic Darchinyan (32-2-1, 26 KOs). The scores were 116-111, 114-113, 114-113.
SUNRISE, Fla. – Mexican lightweight Antonio DeMarco earned a shot at WBC champion Edwin Valero with a sudden ninth-round stoppage of tough Benin veteran Anges Adjaho, on the undercard of the Joseph Agbeko-Vic Darchinyan bantamweight title bout at the BankAtlantic Center.
At Emperor’s Palace in Kempton Park, South Africa, former champion Lovemore Ndou (47-11-1, 31KOs) won a unanimous twelve round decision over Phil Ndou (32-4, 31KOs) to win the IBO welterweight title. The scores were 116-112, 115-113 and 117-111.
Authorities in Brazil have revealed to reporters that Arturo Gatti's wife, Amanda Rodrigues, is one of their main suspects in the investigation of Gatti's death. Early on Saturday morning, Gatti was found dead by wife in their rented condo at the seaside resort of Porto de Galihnas in Brazil. Brazilian police officials have said that inconsistencies in her testimony have given them grounds for suspicion. The couple was on a month's vacation in the country.
At the Nuerburgring race track in Nuerburg, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, WBA middleweight champion Felix Sturm (33-2, 14KOs) retained his title with a unanimous twelve round decision win over Khoren Gevor (30-4, 16KOs). The scores were 115-112 115-113 and 117-111. Gevor appeared to outwork Sturm in most of the rounds.
The news was flying all over Venezuela that undefeated WBC lightweight champion Edwin Valero was arrested several days ago for carrying a firearm, driving under the influence of alcohol and driving well above the speed limit. While he did get into a situation with the local police, Valero's publicist Reynaldo Solorzano says the media stretched the truth without confirming any of the facts.
After several setbacks due to injury and illness, former welterweight champion Carlos Quintana is expected to return in the month of September at the likely weight of 154-pounds. Quintana is currently a contender at junior middleweight, but for the right fight he is willing to move back down to welterweight.