A roundup of the past week's notable boxing results from around the world:
Saturday at Rosarito, Mexico
Antonio Margarito W10 Ramon "Inocente" Alvarez
Junior middleweights
Scores: 97-92 (twice) Margarito, 95-94 Alvarez
Records: Margarito (40-8, 27 KOs); Alvarez (23-5-2, 15 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: After Margarito, a former welterweight titleholder, had his surgically repaired right eye smashed up in a 10th-round knockout loss to Miguel Cotto in their rancor-filled rematch in December 2011, Margarito retired. This being boxing, naturally, he made a comeback in March. He got knocked down, looked extremely rusty and even more painfully slow than he was in his prime and struggled to a decision win against Jorge Paez Jr.
In the second fight of his ill-advised comeback (his eye still looks deformed), Margarito, 38, of Mexico, took on countryman Alvarez, 30, the older brother of lineal middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, who was ringside (as was Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.). Margarito again looked rusty in a hard-fought split decision win, one in which he did deserve. He got off to a very slow start but began to pick up the pace with his trademark pressure as the fight went on. Alvarez landed a lot of shots but Margarito -- still an outcast to many for his failed attempt to fight Shane Mosley with loaded hands wraps in 2009 -- brushed them off and continued to stalk Alvarez. Both fighters emerged with welts and bruises on their faces but Margarito claimed the decision as Alvarez saw his 10-fight unbeaten streak come to an end. After the fight, Margarito, to nobody's surprise, called out for a fight with Canelo, a bout that thankfully is extremely unlikely to happen and not just because Canelo is scheduled to face junior middleweight titlist Liam Smith on Sept. 17.
In the co-feature, junior welterweight prospect Pedro Campa (22-0, 17 KOs), 24, of Mexico, stopped David Bency (10-6-1, 4 KOs), 28, of Nicaragua, 55 seconds into the seventh round of their scheduled 10-round fight.
Saturday at Pensacola, Florida
Roy Jones Jr. W10 "Rockin'" Rodney Moore
Cruiserweights
Scores: 100-90 (three times)
Records: Jones (64-9, 46 KOs); Moore (17-12-2, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Perhaps this is finally the end of the line for the 47-year-old Jones, a pro for 27 years but who has overstayed his time in the ring by around a decade since he was the untouchable pound-for-pound king and a four-division world titleholder (from middleweight to heavyweight).
A lock first-ballot Hall of Fame selection, Jones, who ruled boxing from 1993 to 2004, returned home to his beloved Pensacola and headlined a card promoted by his company Square Ring. Jones said it might be his final fight and around 5,000 turned out to watch the shell of a once great fighter showboat his way to a shutout decision against an abysmal opponent in Moore, 40, of Houston, who was utterly ineffective as he lost his 10th fight in a row. He did not box between 2005 and 2012 and has not won a fight since 2002.
Jones, meanwhile, won his second fight in a row since suffering a devastating fourth-round knockout to Enzo Maccarinelli in Moscow in December. He had an easy time with Moore in what amounted to a sparring match, despite tearing his right biceps in the fifth round and fighting essentially one-handed for the second half of the fight. Jones suffered the kind of injury that could keep him out of the ring for an extended period, so perhaps he will just hang up the gloves, content with the memory of a hometown victory in front of his adoring fans. That would be a nice way to finally go out.
Friday at Verona, New York
Miguel Flores W10 Ryan Kielczweski
Junior lightweights
Scores: 97-93, 96-94 (twice)
Records: Flores (21-0, 9 KOs); Kielczweski (25-2, 7 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: Flores, a 24-year-old Mexico native fighting out of Houston, took on the best opponent of his career so far and passed the test in a competitive and entertaining match with Kielczweski, 27, of Quincy, Massachusetts, in the season finale of the summer run of Premier Boxing Champions on ESPN.
Flores, aiming to make a name for himself in the deep featherweight division, got off to a strong start and his punches were a little crisper throughout the fight. He also moved well and worked well on the inside against the hard-charging Kielczweski, who also fought well but just not quite as well as his opponent. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Kielczweski had the edge but the judges got it right. Stats do not always tell the whole story. Flores landed 260 of 769 punches (34 percent) and Kielczweski connected with 295 of 770 blows (38 percent). Kielczweski finished the fight well, hurting Flores with a body shot in the final round.
Yordenis Ugas W10 Jamal James
Welterweights
Scores: 99-91, 98-92, 96-94
Records: Ugas (16-3, 7 KOs); James (20-1, 9 KOs)
Rafael's remarks: The Las Vegas-based Ugas, 30, who won a 2008 Olympic bronze medal for Cuba before defecting, came into the fight having lost two decisions in a row to then-unbeaten opponents (Amir Imam and Emmanuel Robles) and also having not fought since the loss to Imam in May 2014. Ugas was scheduled to fight Bryant Perrella (14-0, 13 KOs), 27, of Fort Myers, Florida, but he dropped out of the fight a few days beforehand when he was not cleared because of a lingering left thumb injury. So James, 28, of Minneapolis, took the fight on short notice but was outclassed despite turning in a good effort in the clear defeat.
It was a technical fight with little action or entertainment value but the vastly experienced Ugas, the 5-foot-10, five-time Cuban national amateur champion, did his thing -- box, box, box -- as he worked the body and basically toyed with the taller James, who is 6-foot-2. According to CompuBox punch statistics, Ugas connected with 234 of 615 shots (38 percent) while James landed 141 of 606 (23 percent).