Weekend Boxing Results, Dec. 24

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Warrington Beats Frampton in Possible Fight of the Year

Josh Warrington and Carl Frampton put on a show Saturday night, giving the crowd in Manchester a high-level display of featherweight Rock-em-Sock-em Robots, which left many considering the bout an extremely late contender for “fight of the year.” However, as exciting as the fight was, it was clear that the younger champion was landing the more consistent, clean blows as the fight wore on, a fact which was reflected in Warrington’s unanimous 116-112, 116-112, 116-113 decision victory.

After the fight, Warrington expressed a desire to unify the featherweight belt sometime next year in Las Vegas (although he’s never fought in the USA before), which would mean he’s looking to face either Oscar Valdez, Leo Santa Cruz or Gary Russell Jr. Those would all be good fights for the undefeated 28-year-old to take, while Frampton is likely to call it a career after the loss.

Whyte KO’s Chisora to Setup Possible Joshua Fight

In the eleventh round of their incredibly close rematch, Dereck Chisora led 95-94 on two judges’ scorecards and trailed 95-94 on the other. But, after one huge left hook from Dillian Whyte none of that mattered, as Chisora was knocked clean unconscious and the fight was over. Credit to Chisora, who was the underdog in the match for hanging around so long with Whyte, but at the end of the day Whyte was, once again, too good for his fellow Englishman.

After the fight, Whyte called out Anthony Joshua (who knocked him out in 2014), which led Joshua to storm the ring, but tell Whyte that he would rather face either Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder before a rematch with him, which led the crowd to boo him. Either of those fights would be better than a rematch with Whyte, and if the fight had taken place anywhere but England the idea of Whyte-Joshua 2 would be the idea getting booed. There was also a nice moment after the fight when Whyte went to his longtime enemy’s dressing room and buried the hatchet with Chisora.

Charlo Brothers Go 1-1 on Rough PBC on Fox Card

What was supposed to be a showcase for Jermell and Jermall Charlo turned into a disastrous night for the set of identical twins, as Jermell lost to Tony Harrison, and Jermall won but struggled against late replacement opponent Matt Korobov.

First to fight (based on a coinflip, not star power) was Jermell, the WBC light middleweight champion who faced Detroit’s hard-hitting Tony Harrison. Harrison, to the surprise of many, boxed well throughout the bout, and definitively won some rounds. The issue was whether he won the bout. When the decision, which the FOX announcers (and the overwhelming majority of people who watched the fight) assured us would belong to Charlo was announced, Harrison was declared the victor by a unanimous 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 decision. Harrison put on his sunglasses, Detroit Tiger striped shirt and bandana, and told Charlo that he could have an immediate rematch, while Twitter mocked his post-fight outfit for looking like Dave Chappelle’s impression of R. Kelly. While that was a nice gesture from Harrison, Charlo didn’t respond in kind and accused Harrison of both knowing he lost, and admitting he lost to Charlo in private, a claim Harrison vehemently denied.

Next up was the 160-pound twin, Jermall Charlo. To what degree Jermall was affected by watching his twin brother lose his first fight ever due to a controversial decision can’t be known, but Jermall struggled against his late replacement early on, finding it particularly difficult to stop the southpaw from hitting him with straight left hands. Eventually, Charlo found his rhythm and had Korobobov hurt badly in the 12th, ultimately taking a unanimous 119-108, 116-112, 116-112 decision. The 119-108 scorecard was looked at particularly strangely, with many believing it was a sort of “make up call” for Jermell’s decision.

Either way, on a night that was supposed to be their star-making performance on network TV, Jermell lost his fight, his undefeated record, and a ton of fans for his post-fight behavior, while Jermall had fans who previously accused guys like GGG and Canelo of dodging him now calling him a hype job. On a positive note, boxing fans on social media are now using the night to help them distinguish which Charlo is which by noting that “Jermell took the L,” while “Jermall’s won em all.”

Charlie Edwards Beats Cristofer Rosales to Become WBC World Flyweight Champion

A few years ago Charlie Edwards had a chance at a world title and failed, getting stopped by John Riel Casimero. Before his fight with Nicaragua’s Cristofer Rosales, he told anyone who would listen that he was too young and inexperienced for that title shot, but that he was now ready. That statement, which seemed like wishful thinking or a self-motivation tactic, ended up being absolutely correct as Edwards survived a seventh round onslaught to take Rosales’s title via a unanimous 118-110, 117-111, 116-112 decision victory. Edwards dedicated the fight to his ailing mother, whom he credits for giving him the inspiration to win.

Mick Conlan and Billy Joe Saunders Notch Undercard Wins

The undercard of the Frampton-Warrington fight saw a couple of big-name fighters notch rather easy victories. Fresh off of his fight with Demetrius Andrade being cancelled after he tested positive for PEDs, Billy Joe Saunders, fighting at 178.5 pounds, forced his opponent Charles Adamu to quit on his stool between the fourth and fifth rounds. After the fight, Saunders and Demetrius Andrade exchanged a funny back an forth on twitter, with Andrade mocking Saunder’s soft body post-PED usage, and Saunders mocking Andrade’s arrest on gun charges by calling him “Clint Eastwood” and saying he would “bang-bang” his mum.

Irish star Mick Conlan also won on Saturday, taking a unanimous 98-92, 97-93, 97-93 decision victory over England’s Jason Cunningham, marking the famed Irish Olympian’s first professional wins over a Southpaw and over the course of 10 rounds. Although it is unclear whom he will be fighting, Conlan will fight at Madison Square Garden this Saint Patrick’s Day.