Title Fight Results (Mar. 28)

Puerto Rico's Jose Lopez is the new WBO Junior Bantamweight titleholder. Lopez defeated Thailand's Pramuansak Posuwan by unanimous decision. I did not see the fight. Reports indicate that it was an action-packed bout inspite of the age of both fighters. This is Lopez's fifth try for a major sanctioning body world title. He is the only 115-lb titleholder not named Vic Darchinyan. Boxing Scene; Fight News; 15 Rounds

Humberto Soto of Mexico successfully retained his WBC Super Featherweight title against Antonio Davis via TKO in the 4th. Soto kept his composure all throughout the short fight inspite of Davis swarming and head-first attacks. In my opinion, Davis seem to clinch a lot and used his head, literally, more than his fists. He was repeatedly warned for it. Davis went down in the 1st and twice in the 4th. Got up until the referee stopped it with Soto clearly in control. Soto, I believe, was quite impressive and a unification against any of the other 130-lb titleholders will be very interesting. Boxing Scene; Fight News; 15 Rounds

The confusion yesterday on the Fernando Montiel-Diego Oscar Silva fight because of Fightnews.com's report seem to have cleared now. Contrary to what Fightnews reported, it was still and always have been for the interim title. The claim that it was for the full title was made by Montiel himself and Fightnews.com bit on it. I checked on quite a lot of articles on the Tijuana card and they all indicated that it was for the interim. Only Fightnews.com even up to now reported it otherwise. Boxrec.com corrected its records as well by changing it back to interim. Fightnews.com seem to always beat everyone else to the punch when it comes to breaking news but breaking news seem to be inaccurate at times as this evidently proves. By the way, Montiel is the new WBO interim bantamweight titleholder by stopping Silva in the 3rd.

As I've mentioned in my entry Friday, I wasn't committed yet on the accuracy of the report that's why I kept Penalosa in the list. Therefore, the state of the WBO Bantamweight title and the consequences from this interim fight to the Penalosa-JuanMa title bout seem to still hold true. Boxing Scene

Prediction Results:
Lopez won.
Overestimated Davis' durability but Soto still won.

My running score is now up to 14-0 and 1 draw and I didn't count the interim title fight prediction. Tally changes shows Puerto Rico inching closer to Mexico and the US.

As of Mar. 29, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	USA	10	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Kendall Holt - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160
2nd	Mexico	9	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Ulises Solis - IBF108 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
3rd	Puerto Rico	7	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Jose Lopez - WBO115 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Roman Martinez - WBO130 Daniel Santos - WBA154
4th	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (3 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (3 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (3 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
8th (2 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
8th (2 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
10th (6 are tied)	Ghana	2	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118 Joshua Clottey - IBF147
10th (6 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (6 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (6 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (6 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (6 are tied)	UK	2	Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
16th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
16th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
16th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
16th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
16th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
16th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
16th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Cassius Baloyi - IBF130
16th (10 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	Venezuela	1	Jorge Linares - WBA130

Title Fight Schedule Update (Mar. 28)

There have been conflicting reports about the Montiel-Silva bantamweight title bout on Mar. 28. Fightnews.com reported with Boxrec.com's schedules confirming that former WBO Junior Bantamweight titleholder Fernando Montiel [38(28)-2(0)-1] of Mexico and WBO's #3-ranked contender Diego Oscar Silva [24(12)-1(0)-3] of Argentina will be fighting for the full WBO Bantamweight title.

I posted an entry Wednesday that this was for the interim title which is what was predominantly reported in all news related to the Latin Fury 8 card in Tijuana, Mexico. If this fight is indeed for the full title then that means Gerry Penalosa of the Philippines has been stripped or has relinquished his title. I will not be removing Penalosa yet from the tally until after the fight which will either confirm or refute the veracity of the report.

If the report is correct then the winner will replace Penalosa from the tally. If proven otherwise, my prior blog entry explains what I believe are the possible scenarios after this fight to the Penalosa-Juan Manuel Lopez bout and its consequences.

So if this is for the full title, here's my prediction:
Montiel by mid to late stoppage.

Title Fights Scheduled (Mar. 28)

There are 2 title fights this weekend and an interim that might eventually matter in the tally.

On Mar. 28 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico, #1 ranked Pramuansak Posuwan [45(24)-1(0)-1] of Thailand and #2 ranked Jose Lopez [38(32)-7(0)-2] of Puerto Rico will fight for the vacant WBO Junior Bantamweight title. This is the same title that Fernando Montiel relinquished because of difficulties making the 115-lb. weight limit. Montiel will now be campaigning in the bantamweight division. I am not familiar with Posuwan nor Lopez and I don't remember ever seeing them in action, nevertheless, they are currently regional titleholders. Posuwan is the WBO Asia Pacific champ and Lopez is the WBO Latino champ. Their list of opponents does not say much except for the fact that both their last losses are against Montiel. This one's tough to call. Lopez has the advantage in age but not by much. Lopez is 36 while Posuwan is 40. Posuwan saw more action the last 2 years but that maybe is a disadvantage at his age. The fight does not have any TV coverage in the US and I don't expect any streaming video so they will remain unfamiliar to me.

Also on Mar. 28 in Tijuana, Mexico, Mexico's Humberto Soto [46(29)-7(1)-2] will defend his WBC Super Featherweight title against Antonio Davis [26(13)-4(1)-0] of the US. Davis can be a dangerous opponent for Soto. Davis' last 2 losses were title challenges against Joan Guzman and Steven Luevano. The Luevano fight was in the undercard of the Pacquiao-Barrera 2. Davis is not bad but Soto's been to tougher wars and has the homecourt edge. Davis, in my opinion, will fail to wrest the title again for the third time. The fight will be part of a Top Rank PPV card in the Latin Fury series that includes Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Jose Luis Castillo among others. The televised cards starts at 9 pm ET for $39.95.

As an extra note. Also in the Tijuana card, Fernando Montiel will try to capture the WBO interim bantamweight title against Diego Oscar Silva. I don't normally post an entry for an interim fight but this will be significant to the result of the Juan Manuel Lopez-Gerry Penalosa super bantamweight title fight on Apr. 25. If Penalosa upsets JuanMa or eventually retires, the winner of this interim fight will most likely be promoted or mandated to fight Eric Morel for the full title. If JuanMa prevails, then Penalosa will be mandated to defend his bantamweight title against the winner of this interim bout unless, as mentioned, he retires.

My Prediction:
The Posuwan-Lopez fight is a crapshoot. My wild guess will be on Lopez because of age and the home crowd behind him.
Soto will retain his title against the older Davis by late stoppage or wide decision.

Title Fight Results (Mar. 21)

Juan Carlos Gomez's aggresiveness in the first round was short live as Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko took over in the second until the end when he stopped the Cuban via TKO in the 9th. Dr. Iron Fist retained his WBC Heavyweight title. Klitschko's length is too much for Gomez to overcome. The bright side for Gomez, in my opinion, is at least he showed up to fight unlike Samuel Peter a few months ago. Klitschko's probable next fight will be against another WBC mandatory Oleg Maskaev but he's trying to overturn a WBC special ruling on fighting consecutive mandatories. Gomez was also a mandatory. The decision is now in the hands of a sports arbitration court. If they decide in Klitschko's favor then it's also unclear on who to fight in this talent and big-name deprived division. Chris Arreola might be financial appealing because of the US market but again it'll be a mismatch. A unification against the WBA titleholder is a good idea but that will not happen until Nikolay Valuev and Ruslan Chagaev finally settles that confusion early summer. David Haye will be a possibility if and only if Haye takes the 2 belts away from Wladimir. Hopefully, the Wladimir-Haye fight finally gets signed because that's the only heavyweight fight worth watching next. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

The IBF Mini Flyweight title fight in Guadalajara, Mexico between Mexico's Raul Garcia and Colombia's Ronald Barrera was postponed to April 11. I found this spanish news article in ElMeridioDeCordoba.com confirming the postponement. My spanish is not reliable so I used Google translate and according to the translation there was no announced reason for the postponement.

Prediction Result:

I did predict a KO in the middle rounds but Gomez outdid himself by getting up in the 7th and made it 'til the 9th. Not bad but it was still a Klitschko win and another point in my running score.

My running score is now up to 12-0 and 1 draw. There are no changes in the tally.

Title Fights Scheduled (Mar. 21)

2 title fights scheduled this weekend with one televised on free cable.

On Mar. 21 in Stuttgart, Germany, Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko [36(35)-2(2)-0] will defend his WBC Heavyweight title against Juan Carlos Gomez [44(35)-1(1)-0] of Cuba. While younger brother, Wladimir, and his team is still painstakingly working on finalizing a deal with David Haye for June, Vitali is going to fuilfill his mandatory obligations to the WBC. This is Vitali's second fight since coming out of a close to 4-year hiatus. The skills are still there when he took the belt from Samuel Peter last October but Peter might not be a good gauge in determining boxing skills. Nevertheless, Peter was a titleholder so it's still significant. Gomez, meanwhile, has not fought anyone with significance unless you consider Oliver McCall. After the last few weeks of fast-paced and action-packed bouts, this will be quite sluggish. Hoping for a knockout to at least make it interesting. Anyway, who am I to complain? At least there's a title fight to watch this weekend. ESPN will cover live at 5 pm ET (changed to ESPN Classic at 6 pm ET). Their first live coverage of a heavyweight title fight ever.

According to boxrec.com in a very recent update to its schedule, Mexico's Raul Garcia [25(15)-0(0)-1] will defend his IBF Mini Flyweight title in Guadalajara, Mexico against IBF #1 ranked Ronald Barrera [26(16)-5(0)-1] of Colombia. Not a lot of press on this one. I checked with sports betting sites and this fight is indeed listed. But, boxrec and the betting site's been wrong before. Nevertheless, my opinion is this fight will not change anything in the tally. Garcia already beat Barrera last year via decision in an eliminator to challenge then titleholder Florante Condes. Garcia eventually took the belt from Condes in June and defended it twice both against Jose Luis Varela. Barrera was quite busy last year with 6 bouts and a paltry 4(2)-2 record.

My Prediction:
Vitali will still be too much for a relatively unknown Gomez. I believe he will knock him out in the middle rounds.
Garcia will easily repeat over Barrera by decision or a late KO.

Title Fight Results (Mar. 14)

Took me awhile to get to my blog since the last 2 fights this weekend ended. It's been a pleasantly eventful weekend and I have to first and foremost, get my priorities straight.

Anyway, on to the fights. The Manchester card was well worth it. The main cards didn't disappoint me although the Barrera-Khan could've been better if the accidental head clash did not happen. Nevertheless, like I said, it was a great card. The only fight though that matters to my blog is when hometown (now ex) titleholder, Nicky Cook, was devastatingly dethroned by Puerto Rico's Roman Martinez via TKO in the 4th. Martinez is the new WBO Junior Lightweight champ. Cook seem to be hurting Martinez with body shots and could be winning 2 of the first 3 rounds, but Martinez finally delivered as promised with a crunching upppercut to take Cook down. Cook barely beat the count then made the mistake of trading blows instead of clinching. The end came with a jaw breaking left hook. Referee surprisingly but correctly stopped the fight even though Cook was up before the 10-count. I've always thought that Cook was just a lucky titleholder. He caught a break by challenging and winning against an equally undeserving title holder in Alex Arthur last September. As I predicted, Martinez will be too much for Cook's abilities. It will be interesting to see a unification fight against any of the other beltholders - Humberto Soto, Cassius Baloyi or Jorge Linares. So the UK drops to 10th with 6 others and Puerto Rico is now in solo 3rd. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

In Germany, Armenia-born German Arthur Abraham successfully retained, as expected, his IBF Middleweight title against American Lajuan Simon via unanimous decision. I did not see the fight but based on reports, Simon seem to have been a worthy opponent and I might've underestimated him. Good to know that a virtually unknown east coast guy represented himself well in a title fight where he's expected to loss by knockout. If Top Rank's not really interested in matching Kelly Pavlik against Abraham for a 4-belt unification fight, then Abraham will very likely move up to the 168-lb. division. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

Prediction Results:
I knew Martinez is going to win by KO but man did I overestimate Cook's skills.
While an Abraham win is practically guaranteed, contrary to Cook, I underestimated Simon.

My running score is now up to 11-0 and 1 draw. Modesty aside, I'm rockin' and rollin baby!
So, here's the latest tally with changes to Puerto Rico, UK and the rankings. By the way, there's a possibility that UK's not in the list in roughly one and a half months. Carl Froch's defending against Jermain Taylor here in Connecticut and we all know about the biggest fight of the year (so far) on May 2.

As of Mar. 15, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	USA	10	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Kendall Holt - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160
2nd	Mexico	9	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Ulises Solis - IBF108 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
3rd	Puerto Rico	6	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Roman Martinez - WBO130 Daniel Santos - WBA154
4th	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (3 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (3 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (3 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
8th (2 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
8th (2 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
10th (6 are tied)	Ghana	2	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118 Joshua Clottey - IBF147
10th (6 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (6 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (6 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (6 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (6 are tied)	UK	2	Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
16th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
16th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
16th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
16th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
16th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
16th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
16th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Cassius Baloyi - IBF130
16th (10 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	Venezuela	1	Jorge Linares - WBA130

Title Fight Result (Mar. 13)

This time there's no controversy. Canada's adopted son, Lucian Bute of Romania successfully defended his IBF Super Middleweight title against Colombia's Fulgencio Zuniga via TKO in the 4th. Bute managed to circle around Zuniga for most of the fight while tagging him with excellently placed jabs. The beginning of the end came with a wicked left to the gut that knocked the wind out of Zuniga. The Colombian beat the count but was obviously still laboring to catch his breath. Bute quickly unleashed fury until the referee finally stepped in to save Zuniga from further damage. Bute was impressive. He showed why he is one of the best super middleweights in the world. Librado Andrade must now fulfill the end of his deal by defeating Vitali Tsypko on April 4 to deserve a rematch and finally put to rest the controversy from October. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

Prediction Results:
I am a round short but I still got the winner right. My streak is still alive!

My running score is now up to 9-0 and 1 draw. Titleholder won therefore, there are no changes in the tally.

Title Fight Results (Mar. 12)

Japan does not seem to need homecourt advantage after all with both fighters winning convincingly.

Japan's Takahiro Aoh dethroned Mexico's Oscar Larios by a wide unanimous decision. Aoh is the new WBC Featherweight titleholder. I did not see the fight but it was clearly reported that Aoh dominated. There are conflicting reports on whether Larios got knocked down in the 4th and/or the 12th. Aoh avenged his only defeat against Larios from last October. It would be interesting to match WBA titleholder Chris John against Aoh for a unification bout. John is no stranger to Japan having defended his title there at least a couple of times. That might be an alternative to John if in case his rematch against Rocky Juarez doesn't pan out. Japan went from 7th to 5th in my standing tied with Armenia and Panama. Mexico's roughly 2-week stint at 1st is over and drops back to 2nd. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

Perennial WBC Bantamweight titleholder Hozumi Hasegawa of Japan barely broke a sweat in his title defense against mandatory challenger Vusi Malinga of South Africa. Hasegawa easily retained his title by knocking Malinga thrice in the 1st before referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight. Both southpaws made it interesting in the first minute but once Hasegawa locked in his lethal left to its intended target, there's no way Malinga can do anything about it. Hasegawa was very impressive and justified his #1 seeding by Ring magazine. This can be another viable alternative for WBO beltholder Gerry Penalosa if in case he decides to postpone his speculated retirement after the Juan Manuel Lopez fight. Besides, Gerry's only looking for lucrative fights before riding into the sunset and that's a given in Japan. A unification against WBA titleholder Anselmo Moreno is also a good option for Hasegawa. With Japan seem to recognize only the WBA and WBC, this will probably be more likely. Aside from the unification, it can also be for the Ring title, with Hasegawa and Moreno currently seeded #1 and #2, respectively, by Ring. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

Prediction Results:
I'm on a roll. Aoh did win by decision but not controversially as I've thought.
Hasegawa indeed by knockout but I'm more than a couple of rounds off.

My running score is now up to 8-0 and 1 draw. Man! I have been impressive so far, modesty aside.

So, here's the latest tally with changes to Mexico and Japan.

As of Mar. 12, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	USA	10	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Kendall Holt - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160
2nd	Mexico	9	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Ulises Solis - IBF108 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
3rd (2 are tied)	Puerto Rico	5	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Daniel Santos - WBA154
3rd (2 are tied)	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (3 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (3 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (3 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
8th (3 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
8th (3 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
8th (3 are tied)	UK	3	Nicky Cook - WBO130 Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
11th (5 are tied)	Ghana	2	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118 Joshua Clottey - IBF147
11th (5 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
11th (5 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
11th (5 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
11th (5 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
16th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
16th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
16th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
16th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
16th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
16th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
16th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Cassius Baloyi - IBF130
16th (10 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	Venezuela	1	Jorge Linares - WBA130

Title Fights Scheduled (Mar. 12-14)

5 title fights in 3 days from Asia, Europe and North America.

Up first, on Mar. 12 in Tokyo, Japan, Mexico's Oscar Larios [63(39)-6(4)-1] will defend his WBC Featherweight title against Takahiro Aoh [16(8)-1(0)-1] of Japan. This is a rematch from 5 months ago where Larios, according to reports, won a controversial split decision. It's quite rare to find a Japanese boxer lose a close fight by decision in their home turf so I'm not really sure if it was indeed controversial. If you won close in Japan, then I believe that means you really won. Catch my drift? Anyway, this is a difficult fight to call. Larios is a proven warrior who's been in tough wars against Jorge Linares, Israel Vazquez and of course Manny Pacquiao. It's hard to bet against him if the fight is on neutral grounds but back in Japan? It'll be a tall order for the veteran specially with the Japanese fans and media thinking that they should've won the first time. Aoh is the new favorite of Japanese boxing. Unlike the Hasegawas and the Naitos, Aoh is flamboyant and has swagger not typical of Japanese boxers.

Also on Mar. 12 in Kobe, Japan, Japan's Hozumi Hasegawa [25(9)-2(0)-0] will defend his WBC Bantamweight title against mandatory challenger, Vusi Malinga [18(11)-2(0)-1] of South Africa. Malinga I thought is a crude fighter whose main weapon is his left uppercut. They both knocked out Veeraphol Sahaprom but the difference is Hasegawa knocked the Thai veteran out while at his prime. Malinga fought Sahaprom at the tailend of his career. I verified this doubleheader from Japan because it's quite unusual to have 2 title fights in different venues on the same day in the same country (that is not the US). Tokyo and Kobe is roughly 250 miles apart. Their local TV coverage will show the fights one after the other.

On Mar. 13 in Montreal, Canada, Canada's adopted son Lucian Bute [23(18)-0(0)-0] of Romania will defend his IBF Super Middleweight title against Colombia's Fulgencio Zuniga [22(19)-3(1)-1]. Bute narrowly retained his title last October against Librado Andrade. Andrade's all out assault in the final round knocked a spent Bute down in the closing seconds. Bute beat the count and won the fight by decision. Initial review showed hometown referee Marlon Wright delaying the count by yelling at Andrade to stay in the neutral corner where he already was. Replays proved that Bute was up before 10 inspite of Wright's deliberate count. Zuniga will be a formidable opponent whose loses were against titleholders - Denis Inkin, Daniel Santos and Kelly Pavlik. This I believe will be a good test for Bute but not as difficult as Andrade. Showtime will cover starting 11 pm ET.

On Mar. 14 in Kiel, Germany, arguably the best middleweight outside the US, Armenia-born German Arthur Abraham [28(23)-0(0)-0] will defend his IBF Middleweight title against unbeaten yet untested Lajuan Simon [21(12)-0(0)-2] of the US. This will be the Philly-native's first fight outside the east coast. Simon fought mostly in Philadelphia and New Jersey and most recently at the Medieval Times close by in Lyndhurst. Abraham has Kelly Pavlik in sight and Simon is not the type of fighter that will ruin his plans.

Also on Mar. 14 in Manchester, England, in the undercard of the Amir Khan-Marco Antonio Barrera fight, UK's Nicky Cook [29(16)-1(1)-0] will defend his WBO Junior Lightweight title against Roman Martinez [21(12)-0(0)-1] of Puerto Rico. Cook won the title from fellow Brit Alex Arthur last September which doesn't really say much. I smell an upset on this one. Martinez is in the mold of a typical Puerto Rican banger and will be initiating the action. Martinez will most likely go after Cook's slim frame. This will be a good fight to close the weekend and it will be on Integrated Sports PPV.

My Predictions:
I am rooting for Larios but Aoh will have the crowd and the "intangibles" behind him. Aoh by controversial decision.
Hasegawa will be too savy for Malinga who I find open whenever he throws his wide uppercuts. Hasegawa by KO in the middle rounds.
Bute does not want the Andrade scenario all over again. He'll finish Zuniga between rounds 5 and 10.
Abraham will be too much for a practically green Simon who will be in a world title fight for the first time in his life. Abraham by early KO.
Cook, I believe is just a lucky titleholder. I see Martinez dethroning him by late KO.

Title Update - WBO Junior Bantamweight

According to the WBO champions list, the WBO Jr. Bantamweight (115 lbs.) title is vacant. This confirms that Mexico's Fernando Montiel has officially relinquished his title.

Montiel has been having difficulties making the 115-lb. limit. In fact, in his last fight (non-title), he fought Juan Alberto Rosas at 118 lbs. In all likelihood, he is permanently moving up to the Bantamweight (118 lbs.) division. He is scheduled to fight Diego Oscar Silva for the interim Bantamweight title on Mar. 28 in Tijuana.

Current 118-lb. titleholder Gerry Penalosa will challenge Juan Manuel Lopez on Apr. 25 for the Jr. Featherweight (122 lbs.) title. If Penalosa upsets Lopez, the Montiel-Silva winner will very likely be promoted from interim to the full title. If JuanMa retains, then Gerry will be mandated to defend his bantamweight title against the interim titleholder.

Montiel's vacated title will be up for grabs also on Mar. 28 between Jose Lopez and Pramuansak Posuwan in Puerto Rico.

Even with one less title, Mexico still remains on top spot but now tied with the US. Here's the updated list.

As of Mar. 4, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st (2 are tied)	Mexico	10	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Oscar Larios - WBC126 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Ulises Solis - IBF108 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
1st (2 are tied)	USA	10	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Kendall Holt - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160
3rd (2 are tied)	Puerto Rico	5	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Daniel Santos - WBA154
3rd (2 are tied)	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (2 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (2 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
7th (4 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
7th (4 are tied)	Japan	3	Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
7th (4 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
7th (4 are tied)	UK	3	Nicky Cook - WBO130 Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
11th (5 are tied)	Ghana	2	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118 Joshua Clottey - IBF147
11th (5 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
11th (5 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
11th (5 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
11th (5 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
16th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
16th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
16th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
16th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
16th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
16th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
16th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Cassius Baloyi - IBF130
16th (10 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	Venezuela	1	Jorge Linares - WBA130

Title Fight Results (Feb. 28)

All challengers in their very own turf fell short in snagging the belts from the champs. The reigning champs went 4 out of 4 in retaining their belts but 3 out of 4 in getting the win as home town decision still played a cameo in the results of the title fights.

Mexico's Juan Manuel Marquez keeps his trilogy hopes alive against Manny Pacquiao by knocking out Houston-native Juan Diaz in the 9th. Marquez retains his Ring Lightweight belt and captures the vacant WBO and WBA Lightweight titles. This is a guaranteed fight of the year candidate with a number of non-stop exchanges. I don't remember any clinches in this all-action brawl. Diaz kept attacking as expected while Marquez's savy counter punching was in full display even in close range. Marquez was cut in the 5th but managed it. Diaz's cut in the 8th obviously bothered him. He got caught with a wicked right when he first went down in the 9th. A right uppercut finished Diaz off with the referee rightfully stopping the fight without even counting. In Marquez's post-fight interview, he seem inclined to move up in weight and looking into a fight with Pretty Boy Floyd while giving up on his quest for a trilogy against Pacman. He even mentioned that Mayweather is the real pound-for-pound champ. It was a subtle slant against the current pound-for-pound king. In my opinion, it was a change in his approach in finally getting Pacquiao in the ring for the final time. Marquez's 2 extra belts put Mexico a title ahead of the US and takes the top spot in the list. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

In the main supporting bout in Houston. Chris John of Indonesia retains his WBA Featherweight title via what I believe is a controversial draw against hometown favorite Rocky Juarez. Juarez did rally in the last 2 rounds but John, from my couch's vantage point, had enough rounds in his favor to win the fight. But, of course the judges had a better view than from my couch. Besides, the score was 114-114 across the board. It would have been a disaster if Juarez won, even though I predicted the fight for him. John at least showed the American audience or the boxing world for that matter that he is a legitimate and deserving featherweight champion. In fact, with the belt since 2003, he is the second longest reigning titleholder. I hope the "semi" bad hometown decision will not deter John from fighting again in this side of the Pacific. A rematch with Juarez outside Texas will be something I'd like to see or against the winner of the Steven Luevano-Bernabe Concepcion WBO title fight. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

As for the Oaxaca, Mexico card; Donnie Nietes of the Philippines successfully retained his WBO Mini Flyweight title against Mexico's Erik Ramirez via unanimous decision. Unfortunately, I didn't see the fight. I tried looking for a live stream but did not find out about one until the fight was over so I can not make any comments about the fight itself. The only thing I noticed is that one of the judges scored the fight 113-111. Since it was reported that Nietes won convincingly and knocked Ramirez down 4 times then according to that score, Ramirez won 7 rounds. Something fishy there. Anyway, the other scorecards are more like the way the fight was reported, 116-108 and 115-109. Boxing Scene; Fight News

In the main event of the Oaxaca card, Nicaragua's Roman Gonzalez successfully retained his WBA Minimumweight title against Oaxaca-resident Francisco Rosas via majority decision. Again, did not see it so no comment on the actual fight. I just find it hard to believe that one judge scored it a draw. #1 minimumweight boxer in the world against an unranked yet hometown fighter. Well, your theory is as good as mine. Nietes' win will probably catapult him in the Ring magazine rankings and a Gonzales-Nietes unification bout will be interesting. If Nietes climb high enough then it could be for the vacant Ring Strawweight title too. Fight News; Yahoo

Prediction Results:
If Ramirez wasn't saved in the 12th then I could've nailed it.
Overestimated Gonzales and underestimated Marquez.
Missed the John-Juarez guess, but thanks to the hometown advantage, I also managed a draw.
So, I still got 3 winners correct and a draw.

My Running Score: 6-0 and 1 draw.
Doing good so far and with no title fights next weekend, my "O" still ain't gonna go.

So, here's the latest tally with Mexico overtaking the US in what seem to be insurmountable a few months ago.

As of Mar. 1, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	Mexico	11	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Oscar Larios - WBC126 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Fernando Montiel - WBO115 Ulises Solis - IBF108 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
2nd	USA	10	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBC140 Chad Dawson - IBF175 Vernon Forrest - WBC154 Kendall Holt - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160
3rd (2 are tied)	Puerto Rico	5	Ivan Calderon - WBO108;Ring108 Miguel Cotto - WBO147 Juan Manuel Lopez - WBO122 Daniel Santos - WBA154
3rd (2 are tied)	Ukraine	5	Sergiy Dzinziruk - WBO154 Vitali Klitschko - WBC200+ Wladimir Klitschko - IBF200+;WBO200+ Andreas Kotelnik - WBA140
5th (2 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (2 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
7th (4 are tied)	Argentina	3	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
7th (4 are tied)	Japan	3	Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
7th (4 are tied)	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Gerry Peñalosa - WBO118
7th (4 are tied)	UK	3	Nicky Cook - WBO130 Carl Froch - WBC168 Ricky Hatton - Ring140
11th (5 are tied)	Ghana	2	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118 Joshua Clottey - IBF147
11th (5 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
11th (5 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
11th (5 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
11th (5 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
16th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
16th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
16th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
16th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
16th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
16th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
16th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Cassius Baloyi - IBF130
16th (10 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)
16th (10 are tied)	Venezuela	1	Jorge Linares - WBA130