A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Sunday at Kyoto, Japan
Danny Roman TKO9 Shun Kubo - Full recap
Wins a junior featherweight title
Records: Roman (23-2-1, 9 KOs); Kubo (12-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In January, Roman, 27, of Los Angeles, dominated Adam Lopez in a one-sided ninth-round knockout in a world title eliminator and earn a mandatory shot at the one of the 122-pound belts. At the time it was held by Nehomar Cermeno, but he lost the title by 11th-round knockout to Kubo in April, so Roman got the first crack at Kubo, a 27-year-old southpaw from Japan. Roman traveled to Kubo's hometown and impressively lifted the secondary belt -- Guillermo Rigondeaux holds the top-tier title -- by scoring two knockdowns and getting the knockout. It was all Roman in the fight, who led by shutout scores of 80-70 on two scorecards going into the ninth round and 79-72 on the third.
Saturday at Chihuahua, Mexico
Antonio Margarito Tech. Dec. 7 Carson Jones
Junior middleweight
Scores: 68-64, 67-65 (twice)
Records: Margarito (41-8, 27 KOs); Jones (40-12-3, 30 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Margarito, 39, of Mexico, is a former two-time welterweight world titleholder whose best days are long gone but he continues to fight despite a right eye that was surgically repaired and remains deformed. He likely would not be licensed to fight in the United States but the rules in Mexico are much more lenient, so he fights on, boxing for third time since coming out of a four-year retirement after the eye was further damaged in a knockout loss in a rematch with Miguel Cotto in 2011. Margarito, fighting for the first time in 13 months, looks horribly faded but he and Jones, a 31-year-old journeyman from Oklahoma City, still turned in a blood-and-guts slugfest.
An accidental head clash opened a cut over Margarito's bad right eye in the second round and it bled, swelled and got worse as the fight went on. Referee Ricardo Manjarrez docked a point from Jones for leading with his head in the fifth round and after the seventh round the ringside doctor looked at Margarito's bad eye and told the referee to stop the bout, sending it to the scorecards for a technical decision. Margarito, reviled by many for infamously getting caught trying to fight Shane Mosley with loaded gloves before their 2009 welterweight title fight and having his license revoked for 16 months, got the nod but it was a dicey call. Jones appeared to deserve a close decision win. Nonetheless, Margarito got the nod as he continues to jeopardize his eye. He wants a third fight with Cotto (41-5, 33 KOs), the Puerto Rican legend, but that is nothing but a fantasy.
Ramon Alvarez D8 Johnny Navarrete
Junior middleweight
Scores: 77-75 Alvarez, 77-75 Navarrete, 76-76
Records: Alvarez (24-6-3, 16 KOs); Navarrete (33-10-2, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: In an entertaining and competitive scrap, 31-year-old Mexican Alvarez, the older brother of superstar Canelo Alvarez, and Navarrete, 29, of Mexico, fought to a spirited split draw. Navarrete got off to a strong start and put early rounds in the bank before Alvarez mounted a comeback to even things up. Alvarez came into the fight having lost two of his last three bouts, a second-round knockout to Omar Chavez in April and a split decision to Antonio Margarito in August 2016. The draw ended Navarrete's two-fight fight losing streak.
Also on the card junior middleweight up-and-comer Jaime Munguia (25-0, 21 KOs), 20, of Mexico, scored a highlight-reel knockout of Uriel Gonzalez (16-3-1, 12 KOs), 32, who was fighting in his hometown, at 2 minutes, 54 seconds of the second round. Munguia landed a perfect left-right combination to knock him out face-first.
Friday at London
Joshua Buatsi TKO5 Baptiste Castegnaro
Light heavyweight
Records: Buatsi (2-0, 2 KOs); Castegnaro (8-13, 4 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Buatsi, 24, of England, claimed a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and made his pro debut in July. In his second pro fight Buatsi headlined a prospect oriented Matchroom Boxing card and faced Castegnaro, 26, of France, who lost his fifth fight in a row but was picked as an opponent because he is known for being durable. But Buatsi became only the second man to stop him in his 13 defeats. By the fifth round of their scheduled six-round fight, Castegnaro was slowing down and covering up as he continued to take punishment. When Buatsi landed a stiff body shot, he backed into the ropes, went down to a knee and was done as referee Kieran McCann waved off the fight at 1 minute, 6 seconds.
Also on the card, 2016 Olympian Joe Cordina (4-0, 4 KOs), 25, of Wales, knocked out Jamie Speight (15-13, 2 KOs), 28, of England, at 2 minutes, 28 seconds of the first round of their lightweight fight; 20-year-old British welterweight Conor Benn (8-0, 6 KOs), the son of former two-division world titleholder Nigel Benn, knocked out Kane Baker (4-1, 0 KOs), 27, of England, at 2 minutes, 8 seconds of the second round; and cruiserweight Lawrence Okolie (5-0, 4 KOs), 24, of England, a 2016 Olympian, went the distance for the first time in winning a six-round decision against Blaise Mendouo (3-4, 0 KOs), 32, of England, with referee McCann scoring the bout 59-54.
Friday at Los Angeles
Manny Robles Jr. KO7 Jose Estrella
Featherweight
Records: Robles (14-0, 6 KOs); Estrella (18-13-1, 12 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Robles, 23, of Los Angeles, is the son of noted trainer Manny Robles, who trains featherweight titlist Oscar Valdez, junior featherweight titlist Jessie Magdaleno and blue chip featherweight prospect Michael Conlan, among others. He also trains his son, who headlined Golden Boy's "LA Fight Club" card and extended his undefeated record against Estrella, 27, of Mexico. Robles dominated, scoring knockdowns in the second and seventh rounds before referee Eddie Hernandez Sr. waved off the fight at 1 minute, 39 seconds of the seventh round.
Also on the card, bantamweight prospect Cesar Diaz (6-0, 4 KOs), 20, of Palmdale, California, knocked out Antonio Rodriguez (11-19-1, 5 KOs), 29, of Mexico, with a body shot at 1 minute, 12 seconds of the fifth round of their scheduled six-round bout.