Pictured: Errol Spence, Jr.


During the two-day period of Friday, April 15 and Saturday, April 16, fourteen fighters ranked by TTR as being among the best currently competing in their respective weight classes were in action. Ten, Albert Bell, Jason Cunningham, Conor Benn, Chris Billam-Smith, Francesco Patera, Eimantas Stanionis, Brandon Lee, Cody Crowley, Isaac Cruz, and Errol Spence, Jr., were victorious while four, Tommy McCarthy, Radzhab Butaev, Yordenis Ugas, and Efetobor Apochi, ere defeated.


Friday, April 15, 2022-

Toledo, Ohio, USA-

Lightweight vs. Junior Lightweight Bout-
"Prince" Albert Bell (TTR #18 at 130; 21-0, 6 KOs)
Unan. Dec. 8
junior lightweight Martin Diaz (18-12-2, 2 NCs, 8 KOs)
- Bell weighed in at 133; Diaz at 130.
- Diaz' modest 4-bout unbeaten streak (3 wins, 1 draw) came to end as Bell clearly outboxed him in each of the eight rounds.
- Bell won by three 80-72 scores.

Saturday, April 16, 2022-

Telford, Shropshire, England-

Junior Featherweight Bout-
Jason Cunningham (TTR #20; 31-6, 7 KOs)
KO-6 0:53
Terry Le Couviour (16-1, 2 KOs)
- Cunningham dropped Le Couviour three times- once in round 2, once in round 3, and once in round 6. All three knockdowns were the result of shots to Le Couviour's body.
- Cunningham retained the IBF International junior featherweight title and the EBU European super bantamweight title.

Manchester, Lancashire, England-

Welterweight Bout-
Conor Benn (TTR #10, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #10, The Ring #10; 21-0, 14 KOs)
KO-2 0:59
Chris van Heerden (28-3-1, 1 ND, 12 KOs)
- Benn retained the WBA Continental welterweight title.

Cruiserweight Bout-
Chris Billam-Smith (The Ring #10, TTR #17; 15-1, 11 KOs)
KO-8 1:28
Tommy McCarthy (TTR #19; 18-4, 9 KOs)
- Billam-Smith polished McCarthy off with a barrage of shots.
- Improving to 2-0 with 1 KO versus McCarthy, Billam-Smith retained the Commonwealth and EBU European cruiserweight titles.

Herstal, Liege, Belgium-

Lightweight Bout-
Francesco Patera (TTR #17; 26-3, 9 Os)
Maj. Dec. 10
Samuel Molina (19-2, 1 NC, 10 KOs)
- The scores were 96-94, 97-93, and 95-95.
- Patera won the vacant WBO Global lightweight title.

Arlington, Texas, USA-

Welterweight Bout-
Eimantas Stanionis (The Ring #7, TTR #13; 14-0, 1 ND, 9 KOs)
Split Dec. 12
Radzhab Butaev (TTR #7, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #7, The Ring #9; 14-1, 1 NC, 11 KOs)
- The bout was fought for Butaev's WBA World welterweight title.
- I scored the bout for TTR's Main Page and after 10 rounds, I had Stanionis leading by the score of 97-93.
- Referee Rafael Ramos penalized Butaev one point for holding Stanionis' head down and hitting him in round 11.
- The point deduction had no bearing on the final outcome. The official scores were 114-113 for Butaev, 116-111 for Stanionis, and 117-110 for Stanionis.
- I also had Stanionis winning by a 116-111 score.

Welterweight Bout-
Brandun Lee (TTR #16 at 140; 25-0, 22 KOs)
Unan. Dec. 10
Zachary Ochoa (21-3, 7 KOs)
- Lee weighed in at 142 1/2; Ochoa at 141 1/4.
- Lee won by the scores of 98-92, 99-91, and 99-91.

Welterweight Bout-
Cody Crowley (TTR #8, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #8; 21-0, 9 KOs)
Unan. Dec. 10
Josesito "The Riverside Rocky" Lopez (38-9, 21 KOs)
- This was Lopez' first bout since his TKO-10 win over Francisco Santana on December 5, 2020.
- Crowley came into this bout off his December 11, 2021 UD 10 win over Kudratillo Abdukakhorov.
- Crowley floored Lopez in round 7 and went on to win by the scores of 98-91, 98-91, and 99-90.

Lightweight Bout-
Isaac "Pitbull" Cruz (TTR #6, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #6, The Ring #6; 23-2-1, 16 KOs)
TKO-5 1:32
Yuriorkis Gamboa (30-5, 18 KOs)
- Going into the fifth round, Cruz had already decked Gamboa three times- once in round 2, once in round 3, and once in round 4.
- In the 5th frame, Cruz rocked the former unified World featherweight champion with a combination causing Gamboa to fall into the ropes. Referee Mark Calo-oy, recognizing that the battered Gamboa would have gone down again had it not been for the ropes, stopped the bout.

Welterweight Bout-
Errol Spence, Jr. (TTR #1, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #1, The Ring #2; TTR #5 P4P, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #5 P4P; The Ring #5 P4P; 28-0, 22 KOs)
TKO-10 1:44
Yordenis Ugas (TTR #3, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board #3, The Ring #3; 27-5, 12 KOs)
- Spence's IBF and WBC World welterweight titles and Ugas' WBA Super World welterweight title were on the line.
- This was Spence's first bout since his UD 12 win over Danny Garcia on December 5, 2020.
- Ugas came into this bout off his August 8, 2021 UD 12 win over Manny Pacquiao. Spence has been scheduled to fight Pacquiao but suffered a detached retina in training. Ugas took his place and upset the Filipino legend.
- Going into the 10th round, the official scores were all in Spence's favor- 88-82, 88-82, and 88-83. Scoring the bout for TTR's Main Page, I also had Spence ahead, 88-83 (having given Ugas the first and sixth rounds).
- During the 10th round, the ringside physician advised referee Laurence Cole to stop the bout because of the severe swelling around Ugas' right eye.

Cruiserweight Bout-
Adrian Taylor (13-1-1, 5 KOs)
Split Dec. 8
Efetobor Apochi (TTR #16; 11-2, 11 KOs)
- Taylor improved to 6-0-1 with 2 KOs in his last 7 bouts while Apochi lost his second consecutive split decision.