For us the most notable was in Germany as we saw one of the worlds best Heavyweights in action. Although there wre TV issues in the United Kingdom with Boxnation there were few problems for Kubrat Pulev (19-0, 10) who stopped American Joey Abell (29-7, 28). Pulev was dropped for the first time as a professional, albeit it from punch-come-slip, before getting up and breaking Abell down with body shots which seemed to drop Abell everytime they landed. Abell, rather than contine to take shots was stopped apparently by the referee in his corner. This bout, a stay busy contest for Pulev, really was just a case of staying busy for the Bulgarian who is almost certain to fight for the IBF world title in the next 12-18 months.
As well as the fight in Germany there was also notable action stateside with several world ranked fighters as well as a man who has been gaining some traction with a loyal fan base. The most predictable of the results on the show saw former Cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (26-6, 12) out point Manuel Quezada (29-8, 18) over the 8 round scheduled. This always seemed the most likely outcome despite the fact Quezada is the naturall bigger and stronger fighter.
What no one would have expected was that the previously unbeaten David Rodriguez (36-1, 34) was stopped by journeyman Darnell Wilson (25-17-3, 21). Of course many would describe Rodriguez as untested, and he was, but this was still an unexpected result that left fans waiting until the final seconds to be sure of the outcome. Unfortunately for Rodriguez the KO came at the 2:59 mark of round 6, the final round of the bout, as Wilson connected with a left hand bomb.
Whilst Rodriguez was totally exposed it's fair to say that Amir Mansour (20-0, 15) certainly didn't shine either. The unbeaten Mansour manage to force the retirement of Kelvin Price (14-2, 6) though looked distinctly limited over the 7 completed rounds. Sorry to say folks but on this performance "Hardcore" mansour looks anything but a promising championship level fighter, merely a man looking for a nice pay day.
At a lower level there were several fights around the world. These included a notable shock as Brian Minto (39-7, 25) traveled to New Zealand and defeated Shane Cameron (29-4, 22) who was retired by his corner. For Minto this victory appears set to be rewarded with a fight against the very promising Joseph Parker, a fight that should give Parker a test early in 2014.
In Azerbaijan fans had 2 bouts. The most notable of these saw Roman Golovashchenko (13-1, 10) upset the padded Yakup Saglam (31-4, 28) with a majority decision. Whilst one judge had the bout 115-115, the other two saw Golovashchenko as a clear winner with one judge having the bout 119-107. The other bout in Azerbaijan saw the debuting Elchin Ahmadov (1-0) take a clear decision over Latvia's Janis Ginters (5-5, 4). Not toofar away in the Ukraine Vladimir Tereshkin (18-0-1, 8) continued his unbeaten run as he outpointed the limited Oleksiy Mazikin (14-10-2, 4) over 8 rounds. Despite the victory Tereshkin did fail to impress.
In Poland Wlodzimierz Letr (1-1, 1) scored his first professional victory as he scored a 146 second stoppage over Ihar Karavaeu (5-5, 4) who was down twice. Staying in Europe, though going over to the UK, fans got to see Andy Jones (1-0) make a wining strat to his professional career as he over-came the always tough Moses Matovu (4-33-4) in a very close 4 rounder.
With regards to the global action South Africa saw their national champion, Anton Nel (18-12-3, 14), make the first defense of his title as he took out the previously unbeaten Sibusiso Sibiya (5-1, 4) in 6 rounds.
The final bouts of the night were in Argentina as we got 2 Heavyweight fights. These saw veteran Gonzalo Omar Basile (61-8, 28) shut out Alfredo Brigido Ruiz Diaz (7-6-1, 2) whilst Marcelo Fabian Dominguez (45-7-1, 24) took a clear decision over Martin David Islas (12-30-1, 4) in an 8 rounder.