Murtazaliev wins vacant WBA junior middleweight title

Bakhram Murtazaliev (23-0; 16) from Russia won the vacant WBA junior middleweight title when he stopped former WBA junior middleweight champion Jack Culcay (33-5; 14) of Germany in the 11th round at the Stadthalle, Falkensee, Brandenburg, Germany on Saturday night.

From the opening round, the two fighters stood toe-to-toe slugging it out through the first 10 rounds before Murtazaliev stunned Culcay with a barrage of punches in the 11th round, sending him down with a left hook with only seconds left in the round.

Culcay beat the count but was on very unsteady legs as the referee waved the fight off.

HITCHINS WINS IBF ELIMINATOR AGAINST LEMOS

In an IBF junior welterweight title eliminator, Richardson Hitchins (18-0; 7) won on a 12-round unanimous points decision over Gustavo Lemos (29-1; 19) on Saturday night at the Fontainebleau Las Vegas.

Lemos pressed forward non-stop but this was not enough for the judges, who scored the fight 117-111, 115-113, 115-113 for Hitchins.

Super middleweight Diego Pacheco (21-0; 17) won a 10-rounder over Shawn McCalman (15-1; 7) with scores of 98-92, 97-93, 96-94 to retain his WBO International and USWBC titles.

Olympic gold medallist Galal Yafai (7-0; 4) won on an eighth-round stoppage against Agustin Gauto (21-2; 15). Yafai retained the WBC International flyweight title. The time was 2:40.

In a bout for the vacant WBC female featherweight title, Skye Nicolson (10-0; 1) scored a one-sided 10-round unanimous points decision over Sarah Mahfoud (14-2; 3). The scores were 100-90, 100-90, 99-91.

Junior lightweight Marc Castro (12-0; 8) outpointed Abraham Montoya (22-6-1; 14) over 10 rounds with scores of 100-90, 98-92, 97-93.

MERCADO WINS IN THREE ROUNDS

Junior welterweight Ernesto “Tito” Mercado (15-0; 14) won on a third-round stoppage against Deiner Berrio (22-5-1; 13) on Saturday night at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston, Texas.

The 22-year-old Mercado was on top through the first three rounds before Berrio remained on his stool after the third round.

SANCHEZ WINS ONE-SIDED BOUT

Junior featherweight Tito Sanchez (13-0; 7) took a one-sided 10-round unanimous points decision over Erik Ruiz (17-11-1; 7) on Thursday night at the Fantasy Springs Resort/Casino in Indio, California. The scores were 97-92 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Junior featherweight "Gucci" Manny Flores (17-1; 13) stopped Alberto Guevara (27-7; 12) in two rounds. The time was 2:31.

Grant Flores (4-0; 3) stopped Freddy Espinoza (10-4; 7) with a body shot at 1:59 in the first round.

FORMER FIGHTER AND GYM OWNER DIES

Ashley Fourie, who represented Transvaal (now Gauteng) as an amateur and fought as a professional heavyweight from 3 March 1969 to 13 February 1971, passed away recently. He was in his mid-seventies.

Ashley only had eight professional fights, winning three and losing five.

In his last two fights as a professional, he lost to tough heavyweights like Johnny Britz and Chris Roos, a one-time South African heavyweight champion.

After his boxing career, Ashley had his own Gym in Randburg and trained a number of professional fighters.