A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at New York
Wladimir Klitschko W12 Bryant Jennings
Retains world heavyweight title
Scores: 118-109, 116-111 (twice)
Records: Klitschko (64-3, 54 KOs); Jennings (19-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In 2008, Klitschko easily defeated Sultan Ibragimov by lopsided decision to unify two world titles. It was a dominant performance, but an absolutely dreadful fight. Klitschko was content to box and jab and Ibragimov did nothing but run and grab. After that fight, Klitschko returned to fight almost exclusively in Germany save for one fight in Russia and one in Switzerland.
But as Klitschko, 39, of Ukraine and living in South Florida, continues to dominate the heavyweight division he wanted to fight again in the United States and now, thanks to a contract with HBO and a good American contender in Jennings, he was able to do so. And the fans turned out as 17,056 filled an electric Madison Square Garden -- many waving Ukrainian flags -- to cheer on Klitschko as he made his 18th consecutive title defense. Although Klitschko won rather easily on the scorecards in yet another dominating performance -- Jennings, with his movement, awkward style and sneaky punches, made him work hard for it.
So while it was perhaps not Klitschko's best performance and he did not get the knockout he wanted, it was yet another clinical display from Klitschko, who is one of the great heavyweight champions of all time. He has barely been tested at all in 11 years as he won his 22nd fight in a row.
Historically speaking, Klitschko is in rare air. A few days before the fight, his reign reached nine years, already second-longest in heavyweight history behind the legendary Joe Louis (11 years, 8 months and 8 days). His 18 consecutive (in his second title reign) are third all-time in division history behind only Larry Holmes (20) and Louis (25, which is the all-time record for any weight class). Klitschko, the 1996 Olympic super heavyweight gold medalist, also moved to 25-2 in world title fights and in making his 27th appearances in a world heavyweight title fight, he tied Louis for the all-time record. Maybe someday Klitschko will get the credit he deserves for being a historical figure in boxing, but in the meantime he just continues to win and do so in dominant fashion.
Even though Jennings, who is 6-foot-3, 226 pounds, was the clear loser, he deserves a lot of credit for going the distance with Klitschko and even winning a few rounds along the way. Not bad for a 30-year-old who never even put on a pair of boxing gloves until 2009, when the 6-6, 241-pound Klitschko was already three years into his latest title reign.
Klitschko has a complete arsenal in that he has great power an accuracy with his left jab, right hand and left hook. But Klitschko did not use his right hand all that much and rarely threw his hook (which authored the 2014 knockout of the year against Kubrat Pulev in November). Instead, he pounded his jab to maintain control of Jennings, who did what he could to try to get inside on Klitschko but rarely could. He never got in any kind of offensive rhythm and the CompuBox statistics illustrated the difference as Klitschko connected on 144 of 545 punches (26 percent) and Jennings, who verbally taunted Klitschko several times during the bout, landed only 110 of 376 (29 percent). Even when Jennings would land a good shot, like the right hand he nailed Klitschko with in the sixth round, the champion typically answered with his own shot.
Referee Michael Griffin, who had warned Klitschko for holding, took a point from him for the infraction in the 10th round but it meant nothing because Klitschko was already so far ahead on the scorecards. All in all, it was an interesting fight in which Jennings elevated himself by surprising many by being able to go the distance in a decent performance and Klitschko marched on. Next up probably will be a mandatory defense before the end of the year against British big man Tyson Fury (24-0, 18 KOs).
Sadam Ali W10 Francisco Santana
Welterweight
Scores: 100-90, 97-93 (twice)
Records: Ali (22-0, 13 KOs); Santana (22-4-1, 11 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: One of Ali's dreams as a young amateur boxer was to someday fight at Madison Square Garden. That dream came true for the 26-year-old from Brooklyn, as he took on Santana, 28, of Santa Barbara, California, in evenly matched bout that provided the crowd with solid entertainment. In the end, it was Ali, a 2008 U.S. Olympian, who got the better of Santana in what was a highly competitive bout. The 100-90 scorecard turned in by judge Alan Rubenstein is a not reflective of reality.
It was Ali's second notable win in a row on HBO as opened a lot of eyes in November by dominating dangerous Luis Carlos Abregu en route to a ninth-round knockout. Ali couldn't get the KO against Santana, but he ended Santana's 10-fight winning streak and looked pretty good doing it.
Ali did the job thanks to his very obvious speed advantage, which he used to dart in and out and side to side as left the hard-charging Santana unable to catch him with much that was clean. Ali, meanwhile, was able to fire four- and five-punch combinations when he stopped moving to punch. He also counter punched well and landed a lot of right hands. Santana was very aggressive, but as the fight wore on and he began to tire his punches became more and more wild. This was a tough fight for both men, who both showed the wear on their face. Santana's eyes were swelling and Ali's right eye was red and puffy. According to CompuBox statistics, Ali landed 196 of 588 punches (33 percent) and Santana connected on 153 of 720 (21 percent).
They closed the show by brawling it out down the stretch as Ali took home the win and set himself up for bigger business in a strong weight division.
Saturday at Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Felix Verdejo KO5 Marco Antonio Lopez
Lightweight
Records: Verdejo (17-0, 13 KOs); Lopez (22-6, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Verdejo, the 2014 ESPN.com prospect of the year, got his 2015 campaign off to a rousing start. Verdejo, 21, a 2012 Puerto Rican Olympian, had been scheduled to have his first fight of the year against Lopez on Feb. 28 in Tampa, Florida, but a left hand injury forced Verdejo to postpone the bout.
Verdejo's hand looked just fine as he knocked Lopez out in spectacular fashion in the main event of UniMas' "Solo Boxeo Tecate" in front of a cheering crowd. Verdejo, who is becoming a big attraction in Puerto Rico, showed poise and patience as he patiently boxed Lopez -- who came into the fight having missed weight by 4¼ pounds and was not eligible to win the vacant regional title at stake. Verdejo dominated the fight, gradually increasing his aggression with good work to the head and body. In the fifth round, Verdejo hammered Lopez with a right hand and dropped him to a knee in a corner. He rose at seven and Verdejo immediately began pummeling him with unanswered blows until he went down again and referee Luis Pabon immediate waved off the fight at 1 minute, 45 seconds.
The victory paved the way for Verdejo to make his HBO debut at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on June 13 -- the night before the annual Puerto Rican Day parade in New York -- when he will face fellow unbeaten prospect Ivan Najera (16-0, 8 KOs), 22, of San Antonio. Verdejo's bout will be the co-feature on the "Boxing After Dark" card expected to be headlined by featherweight titleholder Nicholas Walters.
Saturday at Tijuana, Mexico
Jose Zepeda KO1 Armando Robles
Junior welterweight
Records: Zepeda (23-0, 20 KOs); Robles (28-4-2, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Zepeda, 25, of Long Beach, California, an impressive-looking up-and-comer, blew away Robles, a 37-year-old southpaw from Mexico, in just 44 seconds. Zepeda landed a left hook to the chin, sending Robles down to his knees in a corner, where he was a tick too late in beating the 10-count from referee Fernando Renteria. Robles, who had never been knocked out before, saw a six-fight winning streak came to an abrupt halt.
Friday at Beijing, China
Randy Petalcorin TKO1 Ma Yi Ming
Retains an interim junior flyweight title
Scores: 115-112, 114-112 (twice)
Records: Petalcorin (23-1-1, 18 KOs); Yi Ming (12-6, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In August, Petalcorin, 23, a southpaw from the Philippines, knocked out Walter Tello in the seventh round in Shanghai, China, to claim an interim 108-pound title and he made his first defense against Yi Ming. And it was over quickly. He dropped him three times in the opening round for the knockout win. The first knockdown came on a straight left hand that landed clean and left Yi Ming wobbly when he got to his feet. Moments later a left hook rocked Yi Ming and he touched his knee to the canvas for the second knockdown. From there Petalcorin was on the attack and nailing Yi Ming. When an overhand left landed flush and knocked Yi Ming down for the third time, referee Raul Caiz Jr. waved off the fight. Yi Ming, a 34-year-old southpaw from China, came into the fight having won nine fights in a row since another first-round knockout loss in 2010.
Friday at Chicago
Badou Jack W12 Anthony Dirrell
Wins a super middleweight title
Scores: 116-112, 115-113, 114-114
Records: Jack (19-1-1, 12 KOs); Dirrell (27-1-1, 22 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In August, Dirrell, 30, of Flint, Michigan, outpointed Sakio Bika in a rematch of their draw to claim a 168-pound world title. Dirrell, who won a world title after battling cancer (non-Hodgkins lymphoma), was making his first defense against Jack, hoping to retain the belt and then watch to see if his older brother, Andre Dirrell, could win another version of the super middleweight title on May 23 in a vacant title bout against James DeGale. That would allow the brothers to simultaneously hold world titles in the same weight division. But that won't happen after Jack, 31, a native of Sweden, Olympian for Gambia, and Las Vegas resident promoted by Floyd Mayweather's Mayweather Promotions, pulled the upset. Many had written Jack off after he was shockingly knocked out in the first round by Derek Edwards in a huge upset in February 2014 but he won his third fight in a row against Dirrell.
Dirrell initiated a shoving match with Jack at the weigh-in and there was no particular love between them. Dirrell's aggressiveness at the weigh-in did not help him in the fight as Jack clearly outboxed him in the best performance of his career. There were some fierce exchanges but it was more of a boxing match. Dirrell, who said he wanted a rematch, had some success in the late rounds but it was too little too late.
In a statistical anomaly, Jack and Dirrell each landed 156 punches. It was only the second time in CompuBox's 30-year history that both fighters landed same number of punches in a title fight. The other was the Miguel Cotto's welterweight title defense against Shane Mosley in 2007 in which they each landed 248 punches.
Daniel Jacobs TKO12 Caleb Truax
Retains a middleweight title
Records: Jacobs (29-1, 26 KOs); Truax (25-2-2, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Jacobs, 28, of Brooklyn, New York, is one of the more heartwarming stories in boxing. He was a star amateur and a blue chip prospect who overcame nearly dying from a rare form of bone cancer to come back healthy. He made the first defense of the secondary title -- Gennady Golovkin holds the organization's main belt -- that he won in August as he routed and stopped Truax, 31, of Osseo, Minnesota, who was never in the fight.
Jacobs outclassed Truax, whose only previous loss came by 10-round decision to former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor in 2012 in a fight in which he knocked Taylor down.
Jacobs took his time, breaking Truax down with quality punches from both hands. He seemed to have Truax in trouble in the final seconds of the sixth round when he knocked him back with a pair of right hands and landed more punches when the bell rang. It pretty easy work for Jacobs and by the time the fight moved into the 12th round, Jacobs was way ahead on all three scorecards to the tune of 109-100, 108-101 and 107-102.
But rather than coast to victory, Jacobs continued to go after Truax in the final round and landed a hard overhand right to Truax's head. The shot staggered him and sent him into the ropes, which held him up, allowing referee Dave Smith to rule a knockdown. Jacobs was all over Truax, who was bleeding from the nose, in the follow-up attack as he hammered him with shots. Smith was looking closely at Truax and when another right hand badly hurt Truax, Smith stepped in to call off the fight at 2 minutes, 12 seconds. This was a strong performance from Jacobs, who went past the 10th round for the first time in his career.
Also on the card, junior middleweight Roberto Garcia (37-3, 23 KOs), 35, of Weslaco, Texas, survived a first-round knockdown to pound out an eight-round decision against James Stevenson (22-2, 15 KOs), 32, of Baltimore, by scores of 78-73, 78-73 and 77-74.