By Tom Donelson / Author, Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Ryan Garcia pounded Javier Fortuna as he scored knockdowns in the fourth and fifth rounds before finishing the fight in the sixth round. This was a complete demolition as Garcia took control of the fight from the opening bell. As the stats show, Garcia landed more punches as the fight progressed.

Garcia landed twice the punches and his power was on parade. Now for the big fight that everyone wants to see: Ryan Garcia and Gervonta “Tank” Davis. This past fight was supposed to be the stepping stone to the fight with Davis. Davis won his last two fights against Rolando Romero with a sixth-round stoppage and both fighters are a good draw. Davis sold out Brooklyn’s Barclays Center and attracted 15,000 in the Crypto.com Arena, as local fighter Garcia attracted a little over 11,000. 

By Tom Donelson / Author, Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

George Kambosos and Delvin Haney were both undefeated and the winner would walk away as the unified title holder in the lightweight division with four belts.  Both opponents were excellent defensive fighters and not easy to hit, and this was an even fight between two very good fighters. 

The first round saw both fighters feel each other out and there were minor differences between the two fighters, but I gave the round to Kambosos on the strength of him landing 8 punches to 5 punches for Haney; and in the second half of the round, Kambosos landed the best punch with a solid right-hand counter which gave this round to Kambosos as well.  Haney had yet to establish a rhythm.

Haney started to land solid shots in the second half of the third round and this continued into the fourth round and the fifth round as he used his jab to disrupt Kambosos’ attack.  The sixth round was close as both fighters landed a couple of good combinations and Kambosos may have won the sixth round.  At the halfway point of the fight, I had it 57-57.

Haney’s jab won both the seventh and eighth round and his defensive skills allowed him to avoid Kambosos’ haymakers.  The seventh round was Haney’s best at this point in the fight as he used his jab to set up two nice combinations.  After the eighth round Kambosos’ corner looked worried as did much of the crowd of nearly 50,000 fans who showed up for their favorite fighter.  This was the biggest bout in Australia in decades and the hometown Kambosos was behind.

By Tom Donelson / Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and contributor to dmboxing.com since 2008

Gervonta Davis faced Rolando Romero in a battle of undefeated lightweight sluggers and while this fight was hardly a spectacle for the first five rounds, Gervonta knockout punch of Romero in the sixth was enough to satisfy the PPV price.

The first round was a feeling around in which I gave to Davis, barely but both fighters did little.  Davis landed 4 punches versus 2 punches for Romero. Over the next two rounds Romero landed the best punches.  In the fourth round, there were no real clean punches landed and could have gone either way. I gave it to Romero but like all of the rounds up to this point, it could have been score either way.  The score on my score card was 39-37 for Romero.

The fifth-round saw Davis landing the cleaner punches, but no one got hurt from any punch landed.  Going into the sixth round, Davis was behind on my card 48-47 but it could have been easily reversed but Davis made the scoring irrelevant.

Romero came forward and lunged at Davis with a right hand but missed and Davis countered with a perfect short left that sent Romero down. Romero stood up but on unsteady legs and as he wobbled toward the referee, the referee stopped the fight. 

By Tom Donelson / Author, Member Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA)

Gervonta “Tank” Davis moved up to junior welterweight to challenge the undefeated Mario Barrios for Barrios’ title.  Davis, who has won titles in the junior lightweight and lightweight divisions, found himself fighting a naturally bigger fighter and Barrios’ size proved a hinderance in the early rounds as he faced trouble getting inside Barrios.

Barrios used his jab effectively to keep Davis away from him and Davis found himself behind on most observers’ cards going into the second half of the fight.  Showtime had him down 59-55 and I had the fight at 58-56 in favor of Barrios.

By Tom Donelson / Author, Member Boxing Writers Association of America, and well respected contributor to dmboxing.com since 2008

There was the fight in the ring and then there was the fight on the scorecards. When Teofimo Lopez Jr. and Vasiliy Lomachenko faced each other to decide the official undisputed lightweight championship of the world, the fight in the ring was close and, in the view of many, decided in the final round. I had Lopez up by a 115-113 score, but it could have been 114-114 or 115-113 in favor of Lomachenko. Yes, it was close, and certainly closer than the scorecards indicated.

When Lopez and Lomachenko faced off in this unification bout, the opening rounds saw Lopez control the fight with his jabs followed by body shots.  The first half of the fight was a tactical fight with Lopez dominating the action.

The biggest shock was that Lopez not only kept his composure, but that he also managed to out-box the master boxer, Lomachenko.  He used his jab to keep Lomachenko off balance and used uppercuts and straight rights to the body.  After the sixth round, ESPN had the fight 59-55 and I had it 60-54 in favor of Lopez.  It was hardly a great fight but a tactical fight which Lopez was winning.