RCM Boxing Weekend Roundup: Eubank Jr., Breidis, Lopez, Fury and Marshall Win Key Bouts
By Robert Brizel, Head Real Combat Media Boxing Correspondent
Every boxing weekend is filled with triumph and tragedy. On October 16, 2021, Mairis Breidis was the big winner. Breidis, the International Boxing Federation World Cruiserweight champion, 28-1 with 20 knockouts, Riga, Latvia, retained his title with a third-round stoppage of Artur Mann, 17-2 with nine knockouts, Hannover, Germany.
While most key bouts were won by contenders, three comeback attempts were unsuccessful: Former four divisional world champion Mikey Garcia lost by majority ten round decision to European Super Lightweight champion Sandor Martin of Spain; Elwin Soto lost his WBO Light Flyweight title by 12 round split decision to Jonathan Gonzalez; and former WBC Strawweight champion Moises Flores was knocked unconscious in an ESPN+ main event televised bout by 20-0 prospect David Cuellar in an all-Mexican showdown, the fifth loss by Flores in his past six bouts. Both Garcia (20 months) and Flores (37 months) suffered from long periods of ring rust inactivity which caught up with them.
In Great Britain at Newcastle Arena, former World Boxing Association Interim World Middleweight champion Chris Eubank Jr., 31-2 with 23 knockouts, Brighton, Sussex, United Kingdom, whose father was in the headlines after getting mugged outside a Barclays Bank Branch in London, stopped Wanik Awdijan, 28-2, with eleven knockouts, Nuremberg, Germany, after the fifth round. Awdijan retired with a broken rib in corner.
Heavyweight contender Hughie Fury, 25-3 with 15 knockouts, Manchester, Lancashire, stopped faded Christian Hammer, 26-8 with 18 knockouts, Hamburg, Germany, on a referee’s technical decision with a bicep injury. Hammer also got deducted a point in the fifth round for hitting off the break.
Female World Boxing Organisation World Middleweight champion Savannah Marshall, 11-0 with nine knockouts, Hartlepool, County Durham, stopped 16-0 previously undefeated Lolita Muzeya of Lusaka, Zambia, in the second round. Marshall has set up a unification bout with undisputed Female World Super Welterweight champion Claressa Shields, 11-0 with nine knockouts, Flint, Michigan, at either 154 or 160 pounds, in 2022.
On the Mexican Cancun card with David Cuellar and Moises Flores, 14-0-1 Christopher Lopez of Guadalajara, Mexico, won a decision over Franklin Manzanilla, 20-7 with 19 knockouts, Barranquilla, Columbia, to win the vacant World Boxing Association International Super Bantamweight title at Oasis Hotel Complex.
Minor upsets included: 4-2-3 Carson City, Nevada lightweight Diego Elizondo winning a ten-round decision over 10-0-1 Aaron Perez of Albuquerque, New Mexico in the hometown of Perez in the main event by scores of 96-94, 96-94 and 96-94; at the Sheraton Hotel in Framingham, Massachusetts, 0-6 cruiserweight Leonardo Ladeira of Brazil, knocked out debuting Rodrigo DaRocha in the second round; and 15-2-2 Armenian super lightweight Petros Ananyan won the vacant WBA Continental Americas Super Lightweight title at Barclays Center in Brooklyn by majority ten round decision over 20-3-1 Daniel Gonzalez of Woodhaven, New York.
Finally, British journeyman and famed survivalist opponent 9-135-2 Louis Von Poetsch of Lydney, Gloucestershire, got stopped for the first time in his last 91 bouts going back to 2017. Von Poetsch was cut on the left eyebrow by 4-0 cruiserweight prospect Callum Simpson of Barnsley, Yorkshire, necessitating referee John Latham to stop the bout at 1:32 of the third round at Oldham Leisure Center.