Scorecard: Julian "J Rock" Williams, Carl Frampton win, get back into title contention

A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:

Saturday at Las Vegas

Julian "J Rock" Williams W10 Ishe Smith
Junior middleweight
Scores: 99-91, 98-92, 97-93
Records: Williams (24-1-1, 15 KOs); Smith (29-9, 12 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Since getting stopped in the fifth round challenging then-world titleholder Jermall Charlo last December, Williams, 27, of Philadelphia, has won two fights in a row, including this Premier Boxing Champions main event on Bounce TV against Smith, 39, a former world titleholder from Las Vegas. But it wasn't easy, despite the one-sided scores. Smith fought his rear end off and deserved closer scores, though Williams did enough to win the entertaining battle. Smith threw a boatload of combinations, but it was Williams who landed the heavier, cleaner shots throughout the fight. An accidental head butt opened a cut over Smith's left eye in the second round. He hurt Williams in the fifth round with a flurry, but Williams quickly recovered. Another accidental head clash in the eighth round left Smith, returning from a 14-month layoff, bleeding and another in the 10th round left him shaken.

Lionell Thompson W10 Earl Newman
Light heavyweight
Scores: 96-92, 97-91 (twice)
Records: Thompson (19-4, 11 KOs); Newman (10-1-1, 7 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Newman, 26, of Brooklyn, New York, was a prospect stepping up in competition against Thompson, 32, of Buffalo, New York, and couldn't handle it. Thompson dominated. He dropped Newman with an uppercut in the third round, floored him again in the fourth round, the first knockdowns of his career, and gave him a lesson he won't soon forget.

Tugstsogt Nyambayar W8 Harmonito Dela Torre
Featherweight
Scores: 79-73, 78-73 (twice)
Records: Nyambayar (9-0, 8 KOs); Dela Torre (19-1, 12 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Nyambayar, 25, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist from Mongolia fighting out of Carson, California, claimed a good victory in a good fight against Dela Torre, 23, a native of the Philippines fighting out of Miami. Dela Torre scored a knockdown on a solid right hand in the final seconds of the second round, but Nyambayar took control after that. He opened a cut over Dela Torre's right eye in the fifth round and threw more punches and landed heavier shots.

Saturday at Belfast, Northern Ireland

Carl Frampton W10 Horacio Garcia -- Full recap
Featherweight
Scores: 98-93, 97-93, 96-93
Records: Frampton (24-1, 14 KOs); Garcia (33-4-1, 24 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Former two-division world titleholder Frampton, 30, in a homecoming fight after having not boxed in Belfast since a February 2015 junior featherweight title defense, rebounded from the loss of his featherweight title to Leo Santa Cruz in January but had a tougher-than-expected time with Garcia, 27, of Mexico, whose mentor, Canelo Alvarez, was ringside. Frampton look exhausted in the second half of the fight against Garcia, who dropped to 3-3 in his last six fights. Garcia got credit from referee Victor Loughlin for a knockdown in the seventh round when he landed a left hook, but Frampton was clearly slipping as he was caught by the punch. Nonetheless, Frampton ground out the tough win that could set himself up for a possible featherweight title shot against Lee Selby, Oscar Valdez or the Santa Cruz-Abner Mares rematch.

Jerwin Ancajas TKO6 Jamie Conlan -- Full recap
Retains a junior bantamweight title
Records: Ancajas (28-1-1, 19 KOs); Conlan (19-1, 11 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Ancajas, a 25-year-old southpaw from the Philippines -- he's the first titleholder promoted by Manny Pacquiao's MP Promotions -- retained his title for the third time with a dominant performance against Conlan, 31, the older brother of hot featherweight prospect Michael Conlan, who was fighting in his hometown. Ancajas gave the brave Conlan a beating, dropping him four times before referee Steve Gray stopped it at 52 seconds of the sixth round.

Zolani Tete KO1 Siboniso Gonya -- Full recap
Retains a bantamweight title
Records: Tete (26-3, 21 KOs); Gonya (11-2, 5 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Knockout of the year alert! Former junior bantamweight world titlist Tete, a 29-year-old southpaw from South Africa who fights primarily in the United Kingdom, was making his first bantamweight title defense since being elevated from an interim titleholder and threw literally one punch in the fight. It knocked countryman Gonya, 25, out cold. The opening bell rang, they came together a couple of seconds later and Tete unleashed a beautiful right hook around Gonya's low guard and crushed him on the chin. Gonya was out cold, and when referee Phil Edwards realized it, he stopped counting at four. The fight lasted all of 11 seconds. Gonya, boxing outside of South Africa for the first time, was down for several minutes before he came around.

Saturday at Czestochowa, Poland

Tomasz Adamek W10 Fred Kassi
Heavyweight
Scores: 97-93, 96-94 (twice)
Records: Adamek (52-5, 30 KOs); Kassi (18-7-1, 10 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Polish star Adamek, 40, a former heavyweight world title challenger as well as a former cruiserweight and light heavyweight titleholder, won his second fight in a row since ending a second retirement, this time against New Orleans-based journeyman Kassi, 38. Although Adamek suffered a cut over his left eye in the second round that bled for the rest of the fight, he was the aggressor, controlled the action and claimed the decision in a hard-fought fight. Kassi, who got cut over the left eye in the sixth round, lost his fourth fight in a row and is 0-5-1 in his last six, all against quality opponents.

Friday at Flint, Mich.

Anthony Dirrell Tech. Dec. 6 Denis Douglin
Super middleweight
Scores: 49-46, 48-47 (twice)
Records: Dirrell (31-1-1, 24 KOs); Douglin (20-6, 13 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Ex-super middleweight titleholder Dirrell, 33, of Flint, Michigan, fighting in his hometown for the first time since 2011 and headlining a Premier Boxing Champions card, won his fourth fight in a row since losing his belt to Badou Jack by majority decision in 2015. Dirrell had Douglin in trouble in the opening round, but he survived. Referee Frank Garza docked one point from Douglin, a 29-year-old southpaw from Marlboro, New Jersey, for pushing Dirrell down in the sixth round. Later in the round, Dirrell suffered a cut over his left eye from an accidental head butt. He was deemed unable to continue and the fight was sent to the scorecards, and Dirrell won a technical decision to keep himself in position for another crack at a title. Douglin, fighting for the first time since August 2016, lost his second bout in a row.

Jamontay Clark W8 Domonique Dolton
Junior middleweight
Scores: 78-74, 77-75, 76-76
Records: Clark (13-0, 7 KOs); Dolton (19-2-1, 10 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Clark, a 23-year-old southpaw from Cincinnati, used his better skills to earn a majority decision over Dolton, 27, of Detroit, who dropped to 2-2 in his last four. Clark had a reach advantage, and he put it to use with his effective jab and also threw many combinations. They bumped heads by accident in the fourth round and it opened a cut over Clark's right eye. But Clark didn't let it get him out of his game as much as Dolton tried to go after the cut.

Also on the card, junior welterweight Ryan Karl (15-1, 9 KOs), 25, of Houston, won an entertaining decision over Kareem Martin (9-2-1, 3 KOs), 22, of Washington, D.C., 78-75, 78-74 and 78-74. Karl has won two fights in a row and Martin has dropped two of his last three. Also, Inglewood, California, junior middleweight Terrell Williams (16-0, 13 KOs), 33, scored a sixth-round KO of Nicaragua's Rosemberg Gomez (19-7-1, 2 KOs), 31. Williams was boxing for the first time in 25 months, since he won by ninth-round disqualification against Prichard Colon, who suffered a permanent brain injury in the fight.

Friday at Reno, Nev.

Gabriel Flores Jr. TKO2 Alexander Acuna
Lightweight
Records: Flores Jr. (5-0, 4 KOs); Acuna (2-2, 1 KO)

Rafael's remarks: Flores, of Stockton, California, is the youngest fighter ever signed by Top Rank in its 50-plus years in business. He signed last year when he was 16 but had to wait until he turned 17 to have his first fight in May. He's looked good so far and had no problems with Acuna, 27, of Mexico, knocking him down three times in the second round of a scheduled four-rounder.

Thursday at Cancun, Mexico

Jose Martinez KO4 Jesus Martinez -- Full recap
Junior bantamweight
Records: Jose Martinez (20-0-1, 13 KOs); Jesus Martinez (23-3, 11 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: In a Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN main event, Jose Martinez, 25, of Puerto Rico, had an easy time with Jesus Martinez (no relation), 35, of Colombia. He did his damage with body shots. He dropped Jesus Martinez with a left to the body in the third round and finished him with another left to the body that sent him to a knee for the count from referee Miguel Canul 19 seconds into the fourth round. Jose Martinez is in good position in a deep 115-pound division, while Jesus Martinez lost his second fight in a row by fourth-round KO.

Alexis Rocha KO1 Pascual Salgado
Welterweight
Records: Rocha (10-0, 7 KOs); Salgado (12-8, 8 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Rocha, 20, of Santa Ana, California, scored a quick knockout that was not unexpected against Salgado, 33, of Colombia, who lost his second in a row by knockout and fell to 2-5 in his last seven bouts. Rocha, a southpaw, hurt Salgado with left to the body and followed with a right-left combination to the head that dropped him to a knee, where he took the count from referee Florentino Rocha (no relation) at 1 minute, 46 seconds. Rocha is lucky, however, that he wasn't penalized for landing a combination while Salgado was already down.

Vergil Ortiz Jr. TKO1 Evandro Cavalheiro
Junior welterweight
Records: Ortiz Jr. (8-0, 8 KOs); Cavalheiro (13-4, 10 KOs)

Rafael's remarks: Ortiz, a 19-year-old from Dallas, just might be Golden Boy's most exciting prospect. He notched his sixth first-round knockout but not without some anxious moments. Almost immediately, he dropped Cavalheiro, 34, of Brazil, with a right hand to the side of the head, but referee Celestino Castro thought it was a shot behind the head and gave Cavalheiro recovery time. When he was deemed unable to continue it appeared as though the fight would be ruled a no-decision. However, the Cancun commission reviewed the replay and determined it was legal punch, so Ortiz was properly awarded a 21-second knockout victory.