Title Update - Ring Junior Featherweight

It was announced in the press teleconference on Thursday, May 28, by Mexico's Israel Vazquez and his team that Vazquez has been given the medical clearance by the California State Athletic Commission to return to the ring after 14 months of inactivity due to his detached retina. The injury happened in his 2008 "Fight of the Year" against Rafael Marquez.

They also announced that Vazquez is officially relinquishing the Ring Junior Featherweight (122 lbs.) title and will move up to Featherweight in his comeback fight. Subsequently, the Ring removed Vazquez from their ratings page last weekend.

Roughly 5 months ago, Vazquez was also stripped of his WBC belt and was given the "champion emeritus" title. This gives Vazquez a free shot on challenging a WBC title holder of his choice. The current WBC 126-lb. champ is Takahiro Aoh but is scheduled to defend his title on July 14. The widely sought after fight will be a continuation of his epic trilogy with Marquez. Juan Manuel Lopez, the WBO Junior Featherweight champ, was also mentioned as a possible opponent provided Lopez moves up to 126.

With one less title for Mexico, the US regains sole lead in the tally. Here's the updated list.

As of June 2, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st	USA	9	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160 Cory Spinks - IBF154 Brian Viloria - IBF108
2nd	Mexico	8	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Fernando Montiel - WBO118 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130
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 (4 are tied)	Argentina	4	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Sergio Gabriel Martinez - WBC154 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
5th (4 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (4 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (4 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
9th	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Manny Pacquiao - Ring140
10th (5 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (5 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (5 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (5 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (5 are tied)	Venezuela	2	Jorge Linares - WBA130 Edwin Valero - WBC135
15th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
15th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
15th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
15th (10 are tied)	Ghana	1	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118
15th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
15th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
15th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
15th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+
15th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Malcolm Klassen - IBF130
15th (10 are tied)	UK	1	Carl Froch - WBC168

Title Fight Result (May 30)

Andre Berto of the US retained his WBC Welterweight title against the current IBF Junior Welterweight titleholder Juan Urango of Colombia by unanimous decision. I was looking forward to a fight that is at least close to the Berto-Luis Collazo war last January. Thinking that Berto still has a surplus of the fire and tenacity from that fight. Yet, in so many instances, I was dozing off. I'm just being honest but this fight was really boring. I am a hardcore fan and I appreciate some sticking and moving but this one's got a lot of moving and holding than sticking and it really wasn't pretty. I know that Urango's style is not like Collazo's but Urango tried to initate the action yet Berto stuck to his irksome game plan which prevented any exchange to go more than 3 seconds. Berto did show that he can run circles around opponents thus frustrating them to run after him. Urango did exactly that yet even if he's close he can't seem to come up with decent combinations. Fight fans probably were as frustrated as Urango. I've already imagined Berto doing the same thing against Mayweather and I started snoring. Glad that's not going to happen. Anyway, Berto remains undefeated and based on his running and holding strategy tonight, it will not merit him any right to fight the big names in this division. So I don't think any unification fights for him is possible anytime soon. With the top-tier moneymakers not available for him then I hope he takes on Paul Williams. Williams deserves a title shot anyway. Urango should remain the IBF 140-lb. champ and I believe he should totally ditch the welterweight experiment. If he can't be competitive against Berto, what more against Mosley or Cotto? ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

Prediction Result:
By the sixth round, it was obvious that I already have the winner right but a late stoppage does not look promising.

Nevertheless, add another notch in my win column. My record is now 33-4-2. No changes in the tally.

Title Fight Cancellation (May 30)

With less than 24 hours before the fight just when I thought it will finally happen, of course Chagaev again has medical issues. For the third time, the WBA Heavyweight fight between Russia's Nikolay Valuev and Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev has been cancelled. The reason, based on unconfirmed reports, is possibly because of hepatitis B which has been a suspicion that lingered over Chagaev for some time. There's more drama and (news) action surrounding this two fighters than their expected yawner of a fight if we refer to their first bout. The on-again and off-again "champion-in-recess" title will very well be permanently tagged on Chagaev. Regardless of the WBA's eventual decision, in-recess or stripped, Chagaev is gone from the list. Therefore, Valuev of course remains. Obviously not the outcome I was expecting but at least gives clarity but not necessarily credibility to the WBA Heavyweight division. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

List updated as I've removed Chagaev and Uzbekistan from the list.

As of May 30, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st (2 are tied)	Mexico	9	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Fernando Montiel - WBO118 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
1st (2 are tied)	USA	9	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160 Cory Spinks - IBF154 Brian Viloria - IBF108
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 (4 are tied)	Argentina	4	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Sergio Gabriel Martinez - WBC154 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
5th (4 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (4 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (4 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
9th	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Manny Pacquiao - Ring140
10th (5 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (5 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (5 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (5 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (5 are tied)	Venezuela	2	Jorge Linares - WBA130 Edwin Valero - WBC135
15th (10 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
15th (10 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
15th (10 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
15th (10 are tied)	Ghana	1	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118
15th (10 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
15th (10 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
15th (10 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
15th (10 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+
15th (10 are tied)	South Africa	1	Malcolm Klassen - IBF130
15th (10 are tied)	UK	1	Carl Froch - WBC168

Title Fight Result (May 29)

Thailand's Oleydong Sithsamerchai successfully retained his WBC Strawweight title against former IBF titleholder, Muhammad Rachman of Indonesia via technical decision in the 11th as well as a couple of head butts. According to reports, Sithsamerchai was dominating the fight but was deducted points on intentional headbutts in the 7th and the inauspicious 11th round. Conflicting reports has the Fight News' Thai contributor claiming it was an impressive win and they were accidental headbutts. The Bangkok Post, surprisingly was more critical of Sithsamerchai by reporting he was guilty of the infractions and clearly doubted his ability to retain his belt in his next title defense. His next title defense will very likely be against Juan Palacios who, contrary to the Bangkok Post, is actually Nicaraguan not Puerto Rican. Palacios is expected to easily dispose Erik Ramirez for the vacant interim title and more importantly a shot at Sithsamerchai's belt. Fight News; Bangkok Post

Prediction Result:
Sithsamerchai indeed by decision yet a headbutt-triggered technical decision.

Add 1 to the win column and is now 32-4-2. No changes in the tally.

Title Update - IBF Light Heavyweight

Another title relinquished in a week. Chad Dawson of the US vacated his IBF Light Heavyweight (175 lbs.) title as reported earlier. Similar to Timothy Bradley's case last month, Dawson is relinquishing because a fight with the mandatory is not financially feasible with no TV network interested. A rematch with Glen Johnson is the more lucrative fight which HBO is willing to cover. Tavoris Cloud is the IBF mandatory and is now slated to fight Clinton Woods for the vacant title.

This is the second time Dawson relinquished a belt. Last year he turned down interim titleholder Adrian Diaconu and vacated the WBC Light Heavyweight title by challenging Antonio Tarver for the IBF belt. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

With one less title for the US, they're now tied with Mexico for the lead. Here's the updated list.

As of May 28, 2009

Rank	Country	No. of Titles	Title Holders
1st (2 are tied)	Mexico	9	Cristobal Cruz - IBF126 Raul Garcia - IBF105 Juan Manuel Marquez - Ring135;WBA135;WBO135 Fernando Montiel - WBO118 Edgar Sosa - WBC108 Humberto Soto - WBC130 Israel Vazquez - Ring122
1st (2 are tied)	USA	9	Andre Berto - WBC147 Timothy Bradley - WBO140 Steven Luevano - WBO126 Shane Mosley - WBA147 Kelly Pavlik - WBC160;WBO160;Ring160 Cory Spinks - IBF154 Brian Viloria - IBF108
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 (4 are tied)	Argentina	4	Hugo Hernan Garay - WBA175 Sergio Gabriel Martinez - WBC154 Omar Andres Narvaez - WBO112 Victor Emilio Ramirez - WBO200
5th (4 are tied)	Armenia	4	Arthur Abraham - IBF160 Vic Darchinyan - WBA115;WBC115;IBF115
5th (4 are tied)	Japan	4	Takahiro Aoh - WBC126 Hozumi Hasegawa - WBC118 Daisuke Naito - WBC112 Toshiaki Nishioka - WBC122
5th (4 are tied)	Panama	4	Celestino Caballero - WBA122;IBF122 Guillermo Jones - WBA200 Anselmo Moreno - WBA118
9th	Philippines	3	Nonito Donaire - IBF112 Donnie Nietes - WBO105 Manny Pacquiao - Ring140
10th (5 are tied)	Hungary	2	Karoly Balzsay - WBO168 Zsolt Erdei - WBO175
10th (5 are tied)	Poland	2	Tomasz Adamek - IBF200;Ring200
10th (5 are tied)	Romania	2	Lucian Bute - IBF168 Adrian Diaconu - WBC175
10th (5 are tied)	Thailand	2	Denkaosan Kaovichit - WBA112 Oleydong Sithsamerchai - WBC105
10th (5 are tied)	Venezuela	2	Jorge Linares - WBA130 Edwin Valero - WBC135
15th (11 are tied)	Colombia	1	Juan Urango - IBF140
15th (11 are tied)	Denmark	1	Mikkel Kessler - WBA168
15th (11 are tied)	Germany	1	Felix Sturm - WBA160
15th (11 are tied)	Ghana	1	Joseph Agbeko - IBF118
15th (11 are tied)	Indonesia	1	Chris John - WBA126
15th (11 are tied)	Italy	1	Giacobbe Fragomeni - WBC200
15th (11 are tied)	Nicaragua	1	Roman Gonzalez - WBA105
15th (11 are tied)	Russia	1	Nikolay Valuev - WBA200+(co)
15th (11 are tied)	South Africa	1	Malcolm Klassen - IBF130
15th (11 are tied)	UK	1	Carl Froch - WBC168
15th (11 are tied)	Uzbekistan	1	Ruslan Chagaev - WBA200+(co)

Title Fights Scheduled (May 29-30)

Three title fights in three continents this weekend from the lightest to the heaviest division.

First up on May 29 in Phuket, Thailand, Oleydong Sithsamerchai [30(12)-0(0)-0] of Thailand will defend his WBC Strawweight title against former IBF titleholder, Muhammad Rachman [62(31)-7(0)-5] of Indonesia. Sithsamerchai is fresh from a tune-up fight last March against a nobody, while Rahman just recently lost to Milan Melindo. Why he got another title shot is quite ridiculous in my opinion. I guess if you price yourself just right then you can easily take part of voluntary defenses. Even with that said, Sithsamerchai does not have power so Rahman with his experience has a decent shot of outpointing the Thai.

Then on May 30 in Helsinki, Finland, Russia's Nikolay Valuev [50(34)-1(0)-0] and Uzbekistan's Ruslan Chagaev [25(17)-0(0)-1] will finally settle once and for all the WBA Heavyweight title. Chagaev was scheduled to defend his title against Valuev last year but after several postponements, it was eventually cancelled because of injuries. Chagaev was relegated to champion-in-recess and Valuev met John Ruiz for the vacated title. Valuev won a boring fight and defended later against Evander Holyfield. Chagaev came back early this year and as planned will finally settle the score with Valuev. Valuev's only setback is against Chagaev on a close majority decision and I expect the same in this fight.

Also on May 30 in Hollywood, FL, Andre Berto [24(19)-0(0)-0] of the US will defend his WBC Welterweight title against the current IBF Junior Welterweight titleholder Juan Urango [21(16)-1(0)-1] of Colombia. After a couple of weeks of no televised title fights, finally we have one with HBO covering starting at 9:45 pm ET. After Berto's last fight against Luis Collazo, I now doubt his skills as compared against the other welterweight champs but admired his heart. If he did not dig deep in the last round, he would've lost to Collazo. Urango, like Collazo, is a southpaw so he might present the same problems for Berto and probably more since Berto has more power. One thing going for Berto is that Urango is a natural 140-pounder.

My Predictions:
Sithsamerchai by decision.
Chagaev also by decision.
Berto by late stoppage.

Title Fight Results (May 26)

The titleholders as expected prevailed in the 2 flyweight bouts today. First was the relocated WBC Flyweight title fight as Japan's Daisuke Naito won via a unanimous decision over China's Xiong Zhao Zhong. According to reports since I didn't see the fight is that Naito survived a sixth round knockdown and cuts over both eyes. It seems like the Chinese did well and made significant strides for Chinese pro boxing. Unfortunately, they're not yet ready to host but at least they're ready to box. Naito seem to have underestimated Xiong and almost paid dearly for it. He moves on yet is not likely to look for fights against other titleholders. He will probably fight another Japanese favorite in Koki Kameda or the interim titleholder Pongsaklek Wonjongkam for the fifth time where he is 1-2-1 against him. ESPN; Boxing Scene; Fight News

As for the other flyweight title fight which again does not have any TV or streaming video coverage, Thailand's Denkaosan Kaovichit narrowly kept his WBA Flyweight title with a split decision win over Hiroyuki Hisataka of Japan. If things don't pan out for Naito with his prospective challengers, a unification with Kaovichit will give some credence to the flyweight division specially with the most recognizable titleholder in Nonito Donaire likely to move up to the 115-lb. class. Fight News

Prediction Results:
Naito was the one who almost got stopped mid-fight but still overcame.
It wasn't a wide decision but at least Kaovichit still prevailed.

My record is now 31-4-2. No changes in the tally.