The Best of the Rest: A Recap of Saturday’s Action

The big stories yesterday were Andre Ward’s dominant win over defending champ Mikkel Kessler and Edgar Sosa’s shocking loss to Rodel Mayol, but there was plenty of championship-level action all over the globe. Here’s the recap:

Maidana Crushes Gonzalez in 3

Despite a brave attempt at a quick start against a hometown champ, Gonzalez (22-6-1, 7 KOs) was outgunned by defending WBA interim champ, Marcos Maidana (27-1, 26 KOs). The end came via thudding left to the liver in the third round.

Up next for Argentina’s Maidana is the winner of the Amir Khan-Dimitry Salita contest.

Erdei Gets the Nod in Germany

Unbeaten Zsolt Erdei outthought once-beaten Giacobbe Fragomeni in their title fight in Germany tonight to win the Italian’s WBC Cruiserweight crown via majority decision.

In a slow start, Erdei struggled to adapt to Fragomeni’s 17 pound weight advantage, and the relentless pressure brought by the 40 year old won him most of the opening half of the fight.

But Erdei, the former WBO Light-Heavyweight titlist threw more punches in the second half of the fight, which saw both fighters go toe-to-toe from round 9 on.

As they exchanged heavy hooks in the middle of the ring, Fragomeni tired and Erdei fully capitalized by wobbling him in the 11^th. The fight went to the scorecards, and Erdei was the winner 115-113, 115-113, 114-114. The BTBC had it 115-113 to Erdei.

On the undercard, recently crowned WBC Super Featherweight champion Humberto Guttierez defended and dropped his belt to Vitali Tajbert by unanimous decision.

Segura Blows Jaro Away

In defense of his WBA Mini-Flyweight title, Giovanni Segura (22-1, 18 KOs) even surprised himself by blowing away the Philippines’ Sonny Boy Jaro (30-7-5, 19 KOs) in just 88 seconds.

It was a big body shot in the first that did the trick.

Sonsona Loses With a Draw/ Molitor Stays Afloat

The Casino Rama in Ontario, Canada was not friendly to Marvin Sonsona (14-0-1, 12 KOs) yesterday as he lost his WBO Super Flyweight belt on the scales earlier in the day and then, later on, was fought to a draw by tough-as-nails Alejandro Hernandez (22-7, 11 KOs). Scores were: 115-113, 113-115, 114-114.

On the same card, Canada’s own, Steve Molitor (31-1, 12 KOs) survived a fifth round flash knockdown to win a unanimous eight round decision over rugged, but crude, Jose Saez (17-9-4, 8 KOs). Scores were: 78-73, 79-73, 78-74…all in favor of the former IBF Super Bantamweight world champ.

Jorge Barrios stops Michael Lozado

In Buenos Aires, Argentina, former world champ, Jorge Barrios (49-4-1, 35 KOs) stopped former world title challenger, Michael Lozado (33-6-1, 26 KOs) in the fifth.