Carlos Gongora: record, next fight and profile →
Discipline, strong training and a lot of perseverance intertwine to accommodate the successful career of Ecuadorian boxer Carlos Gongora, 31-years-old, who in December was crowned the super middleweight champion of the International Boxing Organization (IBO).
Even with fewer categories this year, three previous honorees are in the hunt to repeat in the year-end awards. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, Eddy Reynoso and Keith Connolly are among the 2019 year-end recipients who have made their way back to the ballot among the nominees announced for the 2020 Boxing Writers Associations of America (BWAA) awards. Just five categories will be featured for this year’s awards, with the list of nominees formally announced by the organization on Monday.
Gongora, Akhmedov Fight Photos Gallery - Hard Rock Live at Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, FL. - In the evening's co-main event, an entertaining battle of undefeated contenders, Carlos Gongora (19-0, 14 KOs), from Esmeraldas, Ecuador, upset Ali Akhmedov (16-1, 12 KOs), from Almaty, Kazakhstan, to capture the vacant IBO super middleweight world title. (photos by Melina Pizano)
An unbeaten but unknown southpaw upset one of Gennadiy Golovkin’s prospects Friday night in Hollywood, Florida. Carlos Gongora survived serious trouble in the second round and engaged in an action-packed dogfight with Ali Akhmedov until he knocked out Akhmedov in the 12th round of their fight for the IBO super middleweight title. Ecuador’s Gongora (19-0, 14 KOs) dropped Kazakhstan’s Akhmedov twice in the 12th round, before referee Frank Gentile halted the action at 1:57 of that final round.
Gennadiy Golovkin aims to put a stamp on his second middleweight title reign. The next step in that journey comes Friday evening, when Kazakhstan’s Golovkin (40-1-1, 35KOs) faces mandatory challenger Kamil Szeremeta (21-0, 5KOs) atop a DAZN livestream from Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Hollywood, Florida. Both boxers made weight for the bout, which kicks off a big fight weekend for the sports streaming service.
Two world title fights will be featured on the undercard of the historic Gennadiy "GGG" Golovkin - Kamil Szeremeta IBF/IBO World Middleweight Championship. Undefeated super middleweight contenders Ali Akhmedov (16-0, 12 KOs), from Almaty, Kazakhstan and Carlos Gongora (18-0, 13 KOs), from Esmeraldas, Ecuador, will rumble for the vacant IBO super middleweight world title and unbeaten WBA super featherweight world champion Hyun Mi Choi (17-0-1, 4 KOs), from Seoul, South Korea, will be looking to extend her 12-year title reign against Calista Silgado (19-11-3 14 KOs) from Tolu, Colombia.
After last month's sold out Murphys Boxing's debut at Encore Boston Harbor, the brand new 2.6 billion dollar resort casino located on Boston's waterfront, another capacity crowd watched NABA Super Featherweight Champion, Abraham Nova (16-0, 12 KOs) stop Mexico's Luis Castillo (20-4, 15 KOs) in the first round of a scheduled 10 round title fight.
In the first Murphys Boxing event of a multi fight deal with UFC Fight Pass, fans watched NABA Super Featherweight Champion, Abraham Nova (15-0, 11 KOs) stop Argentina's Mario Ezequiel Sayal Lozano (18-3-1, 9 KOs) in the second round of scheduled 10 round fight last night in Springfield, Massachusetts live from MGM Springfield.
The fighting Irish illustrated the meaning behind the famous moniker tonight as Irishman Gary "Spike" O'Sullivan (26-2, 18 KOs) battled Englishman Nick Quigley (15-3, 3 KOs) to a fourth-round technical knockout victory in the televised main event on Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN. O'Sullivan and Quigley both came out swinging from the first bell and went toe-to-toe, with each fighter bloodied from the action. O'Sullivan received a cut as the two middleweights fought for dominance. Ultimately, the referee took note of Quigley's decreased ability to stand solidly on his feet after a big right was landed by O'Sullivan and waved off the fight in the fourth round.
You don’t have to look too far to find a negative story about boxing these days. It’s seemingly every week that a boxer is jailed, a judge is dismissed (AIBA, ahem) or a promoter is up to some fishy business. Caleb Plant isn’t one of those stories.