V. Klitschko beats Chisora with one hand

Rafael's remarks: We already knew that Klitschko, even at 40, was a dominant heavyweight champion and one of the best big men in history. Now we know he can also win a fight with one arm. Making the eighth defense of his third title reign, Ukraine's Klitschko won a rough, physical fight against England's hard-charging, but much smaller, Chisora, and he did it essentially using only his right hand. That is because Klitschko suffered a torn ligament in his left shoulder in the third round. The injury will not require surgery, but will likely keep Klitschko out of action until the fall, meaning he will miss a planned summer bout. The injury also left him unable to use his best weapon -- the jab -- with any serious impact. Instead, Klitschko took Chisora apart with right hand after right hand in a fight televised in the United States on Epix.

Klitschko threw straight rights, overhand rights and rights to the body throughout the fight and connected with a ton of them. At one point between rounds, Chisora was spitting pure blood into the bucket in his corner. For the fight, Klitschko landed 211 of 605 blows (35 percent) while Chisora was limited to landing only 163 of 359 blows (45 percent). Chisora, who showed zero class by slapping Klitschko hard across the face during the staredown after the weigh-in, took a lot of heavy shots and deserves credit for his chin and big heart. He also dished out some punishment to Klitschko, who has taken so little over the years. From the outset, Klitschko went to work with his right hand while Chisora missed wildly with a lot of shots. But between the injury and Chisora's constant pressure, Klitschko did slow down some in the middle rounds even though he never appeared in any serious danger. Chisora had predicted an eighth-round knockout, but that round came and went with little concern for Klitschko.

Even though Klitschko -- who, along with George Foreman, is the only heavyweight champion to defend the title past age 40 -- has cruised through his title reign virtually unchallenged and having won nearly every round, this was probably the toughest (and most crowd-pleasing) fight he has had since he won a vacant heavyweight title to begin his second reign against Corrie Sanders in 2004.

Although Chisora lost his second fight in a row and for the third time in four bouts, he is a lot better than that record looks. For an inexplicable reason, Chisora was out of shape at a career-heavy 261 pounds for his competitive points loss to Tyson Fury last July for his first loss. In December, Chisora was outright robbed in a horrible hometown decision in Helsinki, Finland, to Finland's Robert Helenius. But it was a good enough performance to earn him a shot at Klitschko.

After the fight, Chisora had his second fight of the night when he confronted loudmouthed former titlist David Haye, also of England. Haye had crashed the post-fight news conference to call out Klitschko and wound up in a well-publicized brawl with Chisora, who confronted him. It was a mess and a disgrace. Klitschko, the regal and classy champion that he is, watched in bemusement.

Rafael's remarks: For a few years, Williams, 30, of Augusta, Ga., was widely considered one of the best fighters in the world (and most exciting), not to mention a guy who many viewed as boxing's most avoided fighter. But then came a nightmarish two-fight stretch. In November 2010, middleweight champion Sergio Martinez scored the knockout of the year against Williams, a monster second-round knockout in their rematch that was as devastating a knockout as has ever happened in boxing history. Williams returned in July and faced Erislandy Lara, but even though Lara landed left hands nearly at will and seemed to clearly win the fight, Williams, who looked terrible, was awarded a majority decision that was so blatantly horrendous that New Jersey officials suspended the three judges.

Williams made his return in this Showtime event and the question was what he had left. After facing Ishida, 36, of Japan, it's hard to say because Ishida was not a top-level opponent. He is a decent fighter who made a name for himself two fights ago when he shockingly scored three knockdowns and stopped James Kirkland in the first round in the biggest upset of 2011. While he did not look overly impressive against Ishida, he was certainly good enough to pitch a shutout against a fighter he was supposed to handle with relative ease. Although Williams dominated it was a somewhat entertaining bout even though there was no doubt who was going to win.

Williams is a volume puncher and he was basically able to overwhelm Ishida with an activity level he could not match. According to the punch statistics, Williams landed 248 of 934 punches (27 percent) while Ishida landed 147 of 671 punches (22 percent). Combine Williams' far greater output, more punches landed and higher percentage of connects with the fact he was clearly the heavier hitter and you can see why this was a wipeout decision. Although there were good things about Williams' performance -- he seemed to move his head a bit more and was not so wild with his punches -- he also got hit cleanly more times than he should have and it was hard not to think about what it would have been like had he been hit by a good puncher, because Ishida is a below-average puncher. But Williams has the win and can certainly continue on in some bigger fights. It would be nice to see him face Lara again, but Williams and his team want no part of it. At least he is in a good weight class where there are several interesting possibilities. What Williams really does have left probably falls in between the two extremes: He probably won't ever return to the lofty perch he once occupied in the top five on the pound-for-pound list, but he is not as shot as some people think he is after his tough stretch.

Rafael's remarks: If you smell something disgusting it must be two of those scorecards in Texas, where there have been some highly questionable calls in recent years. But this one ranks right up there as former titleholder Campillo became the victim of the early front-runner for robbery of the year. Campillo, 33, of Spain, unfortunately must be pretty used to this. In his previous fight, he was hosed in a split draw in Germany against Karo Murat in a title elimination bout. In January 2010, Campillo, a southpaw with good movement and boxing ability, was badly robbed of his world title in Las Vegas, where he lost a split decision to Beibut Shumenov in a fight that absurdly was given to Shumenov in his adopted hometown. Once again, Campillo got a raw deal as heavy hitter Cloud, 30, of Tallahassee, Fla., retained his belt for the fourth time.

Campillo got off to a horrid start when Cloud dropped him twice in the first round. First it was a hard straight right hand that dumped him to his rear end and he was down again after an onslaught moments later when referee Mark Nelson properly ruled that Campillo had been held up by the ropes. Despite the early hole, Campillo kept his composure and rebounded very strongly. Campillo opened a cut over Cloud's left eye in the fourth round, took control of the fight and was very nicely outboxing Cloud. There were several rounds in which Campillo was simply the dominant fighter, although he inexplicably pretty much gave away the 12th round. But he still should have been ahead on all three scorecards when it was over.

While judge Dennis Nelson got it right with his 115-111 card for Campillo, judges Joel Elizondo (114-112) and David Robertson (116-110) stunningly had it for Cloud. Robertson's card is unfathomable and one of the most rancid you will ever see. Showtime's announcing crew was befuddled by the decision. The crowd in the American Bank Center booed loudly. Ring announcer Jimmy Lennon Jr. tweeted that it was "one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to announce." Campillo's camp will protest the result to the IBF, which has a good history of ordering rematches in controversial fights. Robertson and Elizondo need to be called in to explain their scorecards to Texas officials.

The punch statistics, usually a solid guide to a fight, favor Campillo in a major way. Cloud landed 147 of 712 punches (21 percent) while Campillo landed 187 of 670 punches (28 percent). Those stats are fairly close, but in power connects -- meaning non-jabs -- Campillo dominated. He landed 148 of 444 punches (33 percent), more than doubling the landed power shots of Cloud, who landed 71 of 368 punches (19 percent). Campillo landed more power shots in nine of the 12 rounds. This was a darn good fight with a terrible ending.

Rafael's remarks: Well that was fun wasn't it? The fight did not last long -- just 2 minutes, 30 seconds -- but it was action packed. Arreola, 30, of Riverside, Calif., who fought five times in 2011 as boxing's most active heavyweight contender, kicked off 2012 in powerful fashion. Fighting Molina, 29, of Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Arreola was facing a blown up cruiserweight. But Molina can apparently crack because, with about a minute left in the opening round, he nailed Arreola with a right hand. Arreola was clearly hurt and his legs were a bit wobbly, but he quickly regained his bearings and went to work. He bulled Molina into a corner and they were both swinging away, but Arreola creamed him with a flush overhand right. Molina, trained by former heavyweight titleholder Oliver McCall, slithered down the ropes to his backside and was done as referee Jon Schorle counted him out. It was quick and exciting. The fight was televised on Showtime Extreme, one of the network's multiplex stations which will regularly show undercard action from Showtime cards the same night. This was the first time the network did it and it got off to a rousing start. Arreola, who was stopped in the 10th round of a title shot against Vitali Klitschko in 2009, likely will get another title shot against brother Wladimir Klitschko at some point this year provided he keeps winning and Klitschko retains his title on March 3. The win was Arreola's seventh in a row since a majority decision loss to Tomasz Adamek in April 2010.

Rafael's remarks: A decade ago, Scott was considered a rising prospect, one of America's top young heavyweights to watch. But then most realized he was unwatchable because he put everyone to sleep with one boring decision after another against overmatched opponents he should have been getting rid of. After more eight-round decisions than anyone cared to remember, he earned the nickname "80-72" because he had so much talent that he won virtually each bout by a shutout decision. Nobody ever questioned Scott's talent. It was his desire to actually fight that was in doubt. After another 80-72 win against no-chin journeyman Raphael Butler in December 2008, Scott, 31, of Philadelphia, stopped fighting. He ballooned up in weight and more or less disappeared. Now he claims he is dedicated again to fighting and returned to face Releford, 30, a professional opponent from Fort Worth, Texas. In fact, in 2006, Scott outpointed Releford -- you guessed it -- 80-72 on one scorecard (and 79-73 on the other two). In the rematch, Scott once again outpointed Releford by his favorite score, sending Releford to his third consecutive defeat. However, Scott was not his usual boring self. He actually tried to make it a fight. He threw punches in combination and worked well to the body. He's probably never going to be a thrilling fighter to watch, but this showing was certainly a positive.

Rafael's remarks: Congratulations to Arce, one of boxing's lovable action fighters, for reaching his milestone 60th professional victory, a number not too many fighters reach these days. Arce did it in good style as he dismantled former flyweight titlist Parra, 33, of Venezuela, in the main event of a card televised on Azteca America in the United States. Arce, 32, of Mexico, and Parra were meeting in a rematch of their September 2010 first battle when they fought to a split draw in a junior featherweight title eliminator. With this dominant performance, Arce has won five fights in a row since, including all three of his bouts in a big 2011 during which he won a junior featherweight title from Wilfredo Vazquez on a 12th-round knockout upset and a vacant bantamweight belt via lopsided decision against Angky Angkota two fights later. But Arce is going to vacate his bantamweight belt and took this fight with Parra at junior featherweight knowing that a victory would probably set him up for a challenge against junior featherweight titlist Nonito Donaire -- who won the belt Arce vacated earlier this month -- later in the year. Arce had problems with Parra in their first fight, but not this time. He tore into him and rolled over him. Arce dropped him four times overall. He scored a knockdown in the third round when he landed a flush straight right hand that sent Parra bouncing off the ropes and down. In the fourth round, Arce scored two more knockdowns as he dug left hooks to the body. And in the fifth round, Arce continued to pound Parra's body. He landed series of left hooks to his flanks to drop him again. Parra was done. He pulled out his mouthpiece and took the full count from referee Juan Jose Ramirez, who reached 10 at 1 minute, 2 seconds. While another big fight looms for Arce against Donaire, Parra lost his second in a row and is 0-2-1 in his past three fights, the draw being the first fight with Arce.

Rafael's remarks: Boom! It's only February, but we have our first knockout of the year candidate as Stevenson simply erased Gonzalez with a thunderous left hand to move one fight closer to a mandatory shot with 168-pound titleholder Lucian Bute of Montreal. Working with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward for the first time, Stevenson looked very good. He needed just 99 seconds to destroy Gonzalez, 27, of Phoenix, a one-time top prospect. In his previous fight, in July, Gonzalez won a unanimous decision in a brutal ESPN2 fight with Francisco Sierra. Gonzalez withstood many tremendous shots and although he got knocked down, he still won the fight. Against Stevenson, 34, a native of Haiti living in Quebec, he never knew what hit him. Stevenson, a southpaw, missed with a sweeping right jab and then slammed him with a full force, fight-ending left hand to the face. Gonzalez went down hard and smacked his head on the canvas as referee Marlon Wright immediately called off the fight at 1 minute, 39 seconds. It was a frightening scene as Gonzalez was on his back, his hands were outstretched in the air and his legs were slightly off the canvas, literally twitching. Just a sick, sick knockout. Stevenson won his fourth consecutive fight -- each coming by knockout -- against decent opposition. It is time to see some of him on American television.

Rafael's remarks: In March 2011, Magee, 36, of Northern Ireland, got a shot at super middleweight titlist Lucian Bute. Magee put up a brave performance but was knocked out in the 10th round. In his next fight, Magee was given a shot at one of the WBA's pointless interim titles and won the vacant belt in July. The belt is of particular irrelevance at super middleweight since the real titleholder is unified champion Andre Ward, who is the class of the 168-pound weight class, not to mention that the wretched WBA also has a "regular" titleholder in Karoly Balzsay, meaning Magee is the third of three beltholders the organization recognizes. Magee is a pretty good fighter with a real fighting spirit. For his first defense, he went to the hometown of Markussen, 34, who was retired from 2006 to 2010. After coming back, Markussen won four fights in a row to set up his shot against Magee. They fought basically on even terms through the first four rounds but Magee, a southpaw, ended it suddenly. Magee smashed Markussen in the ribs with a left that sent him down to his knees and Markussen was counted out at 2 minutes, 35 seconds by referee Stanley Christodoulou as he was trying to get to his feet.

Rafael's remarks: Simply put, Dulorme, 22, of Puerto Rico, is one of the most exciting prospects in boxing and he did nothing to dampen any enthusiasm with the way he drilled Ambriz in the main event of Showtime's "ShoBox: The New Generation." Granted, Ambriz, 26, of Azusa, Calif., was not a top opponent. In fact, he was a late substitute for Jose Reynoso, who bowed out two weeks before the fight with a hip injury. But Dulorme has beaten some solid opponents already, including in his past two bouts -- former junior welterweight titleholder/gatekeeper DeMarcus "Chop Chop" Corley and former welterweight title challenger Charlie Jose Navarro. And even though Ambriz, who is 3-3 in his past six fights and was in his first scheduled 10-round fight, was a relatively soft touch, the way Dulorme disposed of him is the way a fighter makes fans -- with an energetic style and a big knockdown. Dulorme rocked Ambriz with a right hand and then dropped him with a powerful left hook. Ambriz was a bit wobbly when he made it to his feet and Dulorme was all over him. He nailed him with a few shots and then blasted him with a right hand. Ambriz went down on his back by the ropes and referee David Mendoza immediately called off the fight at 2 minutes, 12 seconds. Dulorme has star potential.

Rafael's remarks: Gonzalez, 22, was a top amateur and 2008 Olympian for Puerto Rico. Now he is one of the finest prospects in boxing. He is moving rather quickly, too. In his previous fight he dominated former welterweight contender Richard Gutierrez for a near-shutout decision in June and now he has a solid victory against Lyell, 27, of Youngstown, Ohio. Gonzalez worked hard for the victory against the experienced Lyell, who fought Sebastian Sylvester for a middleweight title in 2010 and has also faced Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (who went on to win a middleweight belt) and beaten John Duddy. This was the kind of win in which Gonzalez did not look spectacular and it won't go down as a memorable action fight (although it was a pretty good scrap). But it was a tremendous learning fight for Gonzalez. He got in quality rounds against an experienced veteran in Lyell, whose Youngstown compatriot, former middleweight champ Kelly Pavlik, watched from ringside. Gonzalez got the better of the action most of the time. He just seemed a bit bigger and stronger than Lyell, who suffered a cut over his left eye in the final minute of the fight.

Rafael's remarks: Dallas, 26, of Bakersfield, Calif., was a rising prospect whose career skidded off the mark in 2011. He fought twice on ESPN2's "Friday Night Fights" and lost both fights, getting knocked out by Josesito Lopez in the seventh round in January and then dropping a majority decision to Mauricio Herrera in June. But Dallas kicked off 2012 in strong fashion as he returned to the series as the headliner and rolled past Gonzalez, 26, of Cleveland. Dallas pitched a shutout in a fight that he totally dominated despite suffering a cut over his left in the second round as a result of an accidental head-butt. Dallas was quicker to the punch than Gonzalez, peppering him with quick combinations to rack up points throughout the fight. Dallas recently switched trainers. He now works with 2011 trainer of the year Virgil Hunter, who guides super middleweight champion Andre Ward, and the union obviously paid off against Gonzalez, a southpaw who came into the bout with the health of his left hand in question. It had been in a cast just two weeks before the fight.

Rafael's remarks: For such a bad fight there sure was a lot of drama. It is just too bad that it had nothing to do with the action in the ring. Instead it all centered on Estrada's shocking weight. Estrada, 26, of East Los Angeles, signed a contract to face Woods, 32, of Bay City, Texas, at 172 pounds. A week before the fight Estrada's management called Woods' management to renegotiate the weight, which they did to 173 pounds. The morning of Thursday's weigh-in, the Woods camp was informed that Estrada, a 2008 U.S. Olympian, was not going to make weight, but no more details were given. Promoter Dan Goossen's team also asked that Woods come in at 175 or heavier. Incredibly, Estrada weighed in at 196 pounds, a whopping 24 over the original contract weight. That makes chronic weight blowers Jose Luis Castillo and Joan Guzman look like true professionals. In order for the fight to be allowed to go on, Estrada did shed four pounds after the weigh-in, Woods put on weight to get up to 177 pounds and the contract was renegotiated. It meant that they were officially separated by 15 pounds, which is the maximum allowed under Texas rules. With the obvious manipulation of the rule, this fight probably should not have been allowed to go on. But it did and it was not remotely competitive, despite the horrendous 78-74 scorecard turned in by Erwin Sparks. As ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas asked after the scores were read, "Was he taking punches?" Estrada manhandled Woods for most of the fight. He hammered him so badly in the second and seventh rounds that they could have easily been scored 10-8 rounds even though there were no knockdowns. This was just a bad fight under bad circumstances. It's a good thing Woods did not get seriously hurt even though he took enormous punishment. All credit to the heart he displayed. Estrada needs to think long and hard about whether he wants to be a professional fighter. If he does, he will need to act like it.