Roman Karmazin TKO4 James Obede Toney... Ex-IBF junior middleweight champion stopped a bigger opponent James Obede Toney (not to be confused with the James Toney fighting Sam Peter in the main event of the same show) in four rounds in Hollywood, Florida. Karmazin floored Obede Toney with a combination in the fourth, and his shaken oponent beat the count only to get overwhelmed in a corner by Karmazin, which resulted in a stoppage.  Obede Toney, 21-3-1, has now lost two in a row, but it was a good result for Karmazin, a natural junior middle, as the loss Obede Toney was coming off was to 168-pound contender Lucian Bute. Karmazin, 35-2-1, beat Kassim Ouma in 2005 for his world title, didn't get a fight for a year and then lost an extremely close decision in his last outing to Cory Spinks in St. Louis. source Ramon Rodriguez @ ringside

JANUARY 5, 2007:

Jean Paul Mendy D12 Anthony Hanshaw... In a fight that was supposed to crown a winner of ShoBox's super middleweight tournament, Anthony Hanshaw and Jean Paul Mendy fought to a draw in Southaven, Mississippi on Friday. The official scores were 115-113 Mendy, 115-113 Hanshaw and 114-114. Showtime announcer Steve Farhood had Hanshaw winning on his unofficial scorecard but Hanshaw didn't complain about the result in his post-fight interview. The bout was an awkward lefty-against-righty match-up that saw Hanshaw sustain a bad cut over his right eye yet seemingly outhustle Mendy over the late rounds. The twelfth round was a dramatic one as an already cut Hanshaw received a headbutt that tore the gash on his forehead wide open and covered his face in blood. Mendy seemed to get an adrenalin rush and pressed unsucessfully for the knockout as the crowd stood and cheered. A rematch seems likely but Hanshaw will be out for a few months as the cut was extremely wide. Both men remain undefeated, 21-0-1 for Hanshaw and 23-0-1 for Mendy and the IBO super middleweight title stays vacant.  While the eight-man tournament didn't generate as much attention as Showtime would have liked, the network deserves congratulations for providing opportunities to deserving boxers and competitive match-ups for the fans. Sometime before the summer starts, Hanshaw-Mendy II should provide an excellent encore. source: shobox on showtime 

Jose A. Izquierdo W8 Nick Casal... In the second of two televised shows from the state of Mississippi, Jose Antonio Izquierdo, a Cuban who now lives in Mexico, won a battle of undefeated junior welterweights by scores of 77-74, 78-73 and 78-74. Izquierdo, 16-0-1, suffered a very soft knockdown in the first round as he seemed to take a knee following a light blow. As the fight wore on, Izquierdo got the better of most exchanges, and a dejected Casal had to be talked into coming out for the final round by his father/trainer. Casal, 15-1-1, had nicks and marks all over his face by the fight's end. source: shobox on showtime

Anthony Peterson KO4 Juan Garza... Anthony Peterson improved to 22-0 with his best win as a professional, a fourth-round knockout of Juan Garza, now 28-3.  In Biloxi, Mississippi, Garza put together a sharp combination of head and body shots that put Garza down for a ten count. Peterson looked great, but keeping things in perspective, Garza came in on fairly short notice after ten months of inactivity. source: friday night fights on espn2

Jose Armando Santa Cruz W10 Luis Arceo... In the Solo Boxeo main event in New Mexico, lightweight contender Jose Armando Santa Cruz bounced back from a demoralizing loss to win a ten-round unanimous decision over Luis Arceo. In August, Santa Cruz was way ahead of David Diaz in a WBC interim title bout when he got knocked out in the tenth round. This time, he won comfortably, beating a decent foe in Arceo by scores of 98-91, 97-92 and 96-93 to improve to 24-2. Arceo, who has now last four in a row,albeit to respectable opposition, falls to 19-5-2. source: solo boxeo on telefutura

Lamont Peterson W8 Juaquin Gallardo... Just before his brother Anthony's win over Juan Garza in Biloxi Mississippi, Lamont Peterson (20-0) won an eight-round unanimous decision over Juaquin Gallardo at junior welterweight. Although he could not end the fight spectacularly as his brother would do later, Lamont beat a more talented opponent.  Older than Anthony by 14 months, Lamont kept Gallardo off-balanced and won by scores of 80-72 (twice) and 80-74. Gallardo drops to 17-6. source: sun herald

Kelvin Davis W8 Willie Chapman... Kelvin Davis, a former IBF cruiserweight champion who was wrongfully stripped of his title for filing for bankruptcy protection, continues to do well in low-profile heavyweight bouts. On Friday night in Las Vegas, he defeated Willie Chapman, one of the sport's top sparring partners, by dropping Chapman in the first round, twice in the third and then going on to an eight-round round unanimous decision win. Davis' record now stands at 24-4-2, while Chapman drops to 20-28-3. source: boxinginlasvegas.com

Layla McCarter TKO2 Donna Biggers... On the same Las Vegas show, Layla McCarter won the first ever women's bout scheduled for twelve three-minute rounds. McCarter defended a version of the women's lightweight title by stopping Donna Biggers in the second round. source: boxinginlasvegas.com

JANUARY 3, 2007:

Edwin Valero TKO1 Michael Lozada... Venezuela's Edwin Valero further built his status as boxing's top current knockout artist, stopping unqualified challenger Michael Lozada in the first round to retain the WBA super featherweight title. Valero, making the first defense of the title he won last August, beat Lozada with a technical knockout in the first round of their bout in Tokyo. Valero, who is medically banned from boxing in the United States due to a past head injury suffered in a motorcycle accident, now has an astonishing record of improved to 21-0, with 18 first-round knockouts and 20 knockouts overall.  Lozada's brief moment of notoriety is over, and at 29-4-2, he will slip back into anonymity. All of his wins and even some of his losses came against stooges, yet he was sanctioned in this mismatch. source: associated press  

Cristian Mijares TKO10 Katsushige Kawashima... In a later bout on the Tokyo card, Cristian Mijares confirmed his status as a top challenger in the 115-pound division with a second road win over ex-WBC titlist Katsushige Kawashima. Mijares won by a technical knockout in the 10th round less than four months after beating Kawashima by split decision, also in Japan. In between, Mijares, now 30-3-2, also beat decent Reynaldo Lopez in a tune-up. Mijares owns the WBC interim title but the WBC title was recenetly vacated by Masamori Tokuyama, who wants a 118-pount title fight.  Kawashima's record fell to 30-6. source: associated press