Uppercut Magazine.com - Shock at Staples

By Wendy Rodriguez

LOS ANGELES-In the main event Chad Dawson (31-1 18 KO’s) of New Haven, Conn. is now the new WBC and ring magazine light heavyweight champion after the referee called a technical knockout against Bernard Hopkins (52-6-2 32 KO’s) of Philadelphia PA.

There was not much action in the first round. Nothing hard was landed and they both seem to be feeling each other out. Round two came and they began to clinch. Something that Hopkins is known to do. Hopkins was against the ropes. Dawson backed up and Hopkins threw a right. Dawson ducked down and pushed into Hopkins lifting him up and shrugged him off of his shoulder. Hopkins fell and began to show pain.

He claimed to have hurt his left shoulder and couldn’t continue. The referee said it was a no foul and with Hopkins unable to continue it was a technical knockout for Dawson.

“This ain’t UFC, this ain’t MMA. He picked me up” said Hopkins upset at the decision.

The crowd booed at both fighters.

Mexican Wins WBC Title

Antonio Demarco (26-2-1 19 KO’s) of Los Mochis, Mexico is now the new WBC light weight champion after turning the tables in the 11^th round and stopping Jorge Linares (31-2 20 KO’s) of Barinasn Venezuela.

Linares came forward with good movement and quick combinations. Demarco used his jab but it was not keeping Linares away.

In the middle rounds Demarco was able to let go of his punches and catch Linares with straight lefts. Linares was cut on the bridge of the nose by a punch but he kept on fighting.

Demarco began to do better but he was still getting caught by Linares quick combinations. Linares face was bloody after each round, but it didn’t slow him down until they hit round 11.

Demarco came out strong. He began to land his punches and hurt Linares. Demarco landed left hooks and straight rights and hurt the Venezuelan. Linares was now only covering up. The referee had to step in at 2:32 of the 11^th round declaring Demarco the winner by KO.

Garcia Beats Holt

In the welter weight division Danny Garcia (22-0 14 KO’s) of Philadelphia PA took the vacant NABO title, and is now ranked #2 under the IBF and is in the #1 position eliminator for the WBC after defeating Kendal Holt (27-5 15 KO’s) of Paterson New Jersey.

Holt began using his speed. Garcia landed a good over hand right and caught Holt on the neck. In the third round, Garcia landed an over hand right on the top of Holt’s head that made him stumble. A few seconds later, Garcia landed a straight cross and Holt stumbled again. Garcia was more aggressive and continued to land quick combinations. Holts left eye was swelling shut. Holt dropped his guard and allowed Garcia to land more. Holt threw quick left hooks and caught Garcia. Garcia came back and began to land consecutive straight rights. The judges scored the fight 115-113 Holt, 117-111 Garcia and 117-111 Garcia declaring Garcia the winner by split decision.

Malignaggi Dominates Lora

In the welterweight division Paulie Malignaggi (30-4 6 KO’s) of Brooklyn defeated Orlando Lora (28-2 1 19 KO’s) of Culiacan, Mexico with a unanimous decision.

Malignaggi started off round one dancing around and snapping out his jab. Lora threw a hard right and caught Malignaggi. He stumbled back and held on to Lora’s legs to prevent himself from falling.

The former junior welterweight world champion Malignaggi continued to dance around landing jabs and hooks. Lora kept trying to get into distance to land his combinations but wasn’t able with Malignaggi's quick foot work. Lora was cut above his left eye.

At the end of the 5^th round Lora walked right next to Malignaggi and accompanied him to his corner. Lora didn’t realize he was at the wrong corner until Malignaggi’s corner told him. All the jabs and hooks that Malignaggi was landing must have really hurt Lora. 

In the 8^th round Lora came back and began to land straight rights and uppercuts. It was a better round for Lora but not enough to get the win. Judges score it 100-90, 98-92, and 99-91.

Other results

In the junior middleweight division, Freddy Hernandez (30-2 20 KO’s) of Mexico City defeated Luis Collazo (31-5 16 KO’s) of Brooklyn.

Collazo landed straight lefts to the body early in the fight. He dropped his guard down and tried bobbing and weaving punches. It was easier for Hernandez to land after Collazo brought his hands down.  

Hernandez began to land more but his shots do not seem to affect Collazo until they hit the 7^th round. Collazo slowed down. Hernandez landed a combo and Collazo dropped down to one knee. The referee gave him an eight count and he continued to fight. Collazo’s hands were now up and tried to fight back. They both finished strong. All three judges scored it 96-93 a unanimous decision for Hernandez.

In the welterweight division Nick Casal (22-4-1 17 KO’s) of Niagra Falls, New York stopped Michael Anderson (11-1-1 9 KO’s) of Newark. Casal started working quick and was landing good combinations. Anderson was not using his reach. He held and hit but. Casal was getting the better shots. He stayed in close and landed body shots and uppercuts. He then let go a barrage of straight punches and uppercuts. The referee stepped in and stopped the fight at 2:51 of the third round declaring Casal the winner by TKO.

In the middleweight division Donyil Livingston (6-0 3 KO’s) of Palmdale, California defeated Kurtis Colvin (6-1 5 KO’s) of Austin, Texas. Livingston was more aggressive landing his combinations. Colvin held Livingston then quickly pushed off to land power punches, but missed. Livingston landed a hard left hook and hurt Colvin. Two of the judges scored the fight 58-56 and the third scored it 59-55, a unanimous decision for Livingston.

In the cruiserweight division Dewey Bozella (1-0) of Beacon, New York defeated Larry Hopkins (0-4) of Houston. Dewey was a former amateur fighter. In 1983, Bozella was wrongfully imprisoned of a murder and was locked up for 26 years. He was released after he was found innocent. He had a dream to become a professional boxer. At age 52, he was given the opportunity by Golden Boy Promotions. “This is my first and last fight. It is one of the greatest moments of my life”, said Bozella after knocking out Colvin's mouth piece six times and winning a unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 39-36, 38-37, and 38-36 declaring Bozella the winner.

In the junior featherweight division Manuel Avila (6-0 2 KO’s) of Fairfield CA defeated David Reyes (2-1) of East Los Angeles CA with a split decision. The judges scored the fight 38-37, 39-36, and 38-37.