A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Inglewood, Calif.
Jorge Linares W12 Luke Campbell
Retains world lightweight title
Scores: 115-112, 114-113 Linares, 115-113 Campbell
Records: Linares (43-3, 27 KOs); Campbell (17-2, 14 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In a highly competitive and interesting HBO main event, three-division world titleholder Linares, 32, of Venezuela, retained his 135-pound belt (and lineal title) for the second time but was pushed hard by Campbell, 29, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist and mandatory challenger from England. Linares started fast, including a clean knockdown in the second round, before Campbell, a southpaw, won several middle rounds. That set the stage for Linares to close strong over the final couple of rounds to seal a majority decision. Next up, Linares wants a unification fight with Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs), which is easily the best fight that could be made in the division.
Saturday at Manchester, England
Joseph Parker W12 Hughie Fury
Retains a heavyweight title
Scores: 118-110 (twice), 114-114
Records: Parker (24-0, 18 KOs); Fury (20-1, 10 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Parker, 25, of New Zealand, traveled to the hometown of mandatory challenger Fury, 23, who was bidding to bring one of the world title belts back to the family: Only after his first cousin Tyson Fury vacated did Parker have a chance to win it. It was a rather uneventful and boring fight, but the 118-110 scorecards were a joke. Perhaps Parker deserved to win, but if he did it was by a much closer decision. With Tyson in his corner, Fury moved and jabbed and tried to stink out Parker, who didn't land much of anything. He apparently was rewarded by two judges for merely being more aggressive than Fury, though it was not effective aggressiveness. Fury promoter Mick Hennessy cried corruption and called for an investigation. That's nonsense. What he should investigate is why it was such a bad fight in which neither guy did much of anything to impress anyone.
Saturday at San Antonio
Yunier Dorticos KO2 Dmitry Kudryashov
World Boxing Super Series quarterfinals
Retains a cruiserweight title
Records: Dorticos (22-0, 21 KOs); Kudryashov (21-2, 21 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Knockout of the year alert! Dorticos more than lived up to his nickname of "The KO Doctor" as he retained his world title for the first time by absolutely devastating KO against fellow big puncher "The Russian Hammer." You had to figure this would end in a knockout and it did. In a lively fight, Dorticos put Kudryashov away with a gargantuan right hand to the side of Kudryashov's head to drop him. Kudryashov showed huge heart, but referee Rafael Ramos counted him out at 2 minutes, 10 seconds. Dorticos advanced to the semifinals in early 2018 when he will face the Oct. 21 winner between titleholder Murat Gassiev (24-0, 17 KOs) and former titleholder Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (53-3-1, 37 KOs).
Nonito Donaire W10 Ruben Garcia Hernandez
Featherweight
Scores: 100-90, 99-91, 97-93
Records: Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs); Garcia Hernandez (22-3-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Donaire, 34, the former four-division titlist fighting out of Las Vegas, returned to the featherweight division for his first fight since losing a junior featherweight belt via controversial decision to Jessie Magdaleno 10 months ago. Donaire, in his first fight since signing with Ringstar Sports promoter Richard Schaefer, was sharp as he used his speed and movement to roll to one-sided decision against Hernandez, 24, of Mexico, who was outclassed.
Saturday at Park City, Kan.
Nico Hernandez W6 Kendrick Latchman
Flyweight
Scores: 60-54, 59-55 (twice)
Records: Hernandez (3-0, 2 KOs); Latchman (1-5-1, 1 KO)
Rafael's remarks: Hernandez, 21, of Wichita, Kansas, who claimed a bronze medal in the 2016 Olympics, wound up facing last-minute opponent Latchman, 22, a southpaw from St. Louis, when Basyzbek Baratov (2-1-2) pulled out of the fight after the weigh-in due to a contractual dispute. Despite weighing about 10 pounds less than Latchman on fight night, Hernandez took care of business after getting buzzed by a shot in the first round. Hernandez is next scheduled to fight Dec. 2 at the same location as this fight, Hartman Arena.
Also on the card, Tramaine "the Mighty Midget" Williams (13-0, 5 KOs), 24, of New Haven, Connecticut, cruised to a one-sided unanimous decision -- 98-91, 98-91 and 97-92 -- over Derrick Murray (13-3-1, 5 KOs), 29, of St. Louis.
Friday at Tucson, Ariz.
Oscar Valdez W12 Genesis Servania
Retains a featherweight title
Scores: 117-109, 116-110, 115-111
Records: Valdez (23-0, 19 KOs); Servania (29-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Nobody really knew much about Servania, 26, of the Philippines, going into the fight, but they know him now after he gave Valdez, 26, a very tough battle in a terrific fight that headlined a Top Rank ESPN card. Valdez, a two-time Mexican Olympian, was returning to fight in the city where he spent several years of his childhood, and he gave the fans what they wanted as he retained his title for the third time. It was an all-out slugfest in which Servania dropped a wide-open Valdez in the fourth round with a right hand and then went down when Valdez ripped him with an overhand left in the fifth round. They traded back and forth -- including in the sensational 12th round, a round of the year candidate -- but the difference was Valdez's hard left hand and the fact that he was the busier fighter and landed far more punches overall (192-120, per CompuBox).
Gilberto "Zurdo" Ramirez W12 Jessie Hart
Retains a super middleweight title
Scores: 115-112 (twice), 114-113
Records: Ramirez (36-0, 24 KOs); Hart (22-1, 18 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In an outstanding slugfest, Ramirez, a 26-year-old southpaw from Mexico, retained his title for the second time as he overcame a very game effort from Hart, 28, of Philadelphia, the son of 1970s middleweight contender Eugene "Cyclone" Hart, who never got a chance to fight for a belt. His son did and nearly got blown out, getting dropped by a right hand and nearly being stopped in the second round. But Hart showed huge heart and willed himself back into a fight that was exciting throughout. Ramirez looked like he had won by a bit of a wider margin, but Hart closed strong as they both showed great ability to take a shot.
Michael Conlan TKO2 Kenny Guzman
Featherweight
Records: Conlan (4-0, 4 KOs); Guzman (3-1, 1 KO)
Rafael's remarks: Conlan, the 25-year-old two-time Irish Olympian, and Guzman, 30, of Kalispell, Montana, threw down in a slugfest for as long as this lasted, which wasn't very long. In the second round, Conlan landed a big right hand on the chin and dropped Guzman, who beat the count and was in no condition to go on, forcing referee Wes Melton to stop it at 2 minutes, 59 seconds.
Two 2016 Olympic gold medalists were also on the card and notched victories. Junior lightweight Robson Conceicao (5-0, 4 KOs), 28, of Brazil, hammered Carlos Osorio (13-8-1, 5 KOs), 27, of Nicaragua, until he retired on his stool claiming a right shoulder injury after the third round. Junior welterweight Fazliddin Gaibnazarov (3-0, 1 KO), 26, of Uzbekistan, cruised to a shutout of Victor Rosas (9-7, 3 KOs), 29, of Mexico, whom he battered throughout the fight and won 80-72 on the three scorecards.