Cuban Yoenis Tellez (9-0, 7 KO) defeated Johan Gonzalez (35-4, 34 KO) in the seventh round in a super welterweight fight. Tellez dropped Gonzalez three times in the final two rounds, with the last stoppage coming at 1:57 of the seventh round.

Tellez, 24, currently trains in Stafford, Texas under famed Ronnie Shields and showed off his explosive tools in his fifth fight at the Caribe Royale Resort. While Tellez seemed in control through the first rounds, Gonzalez remained competitive and eager to return fire.

“We were up against a very experienced player under the guidance of a great coach in Ismael Salas, so I knew it wouldn’t be effortless,” Tellez said. “I just followed my corner’s instructions so I could win.”

Tellez’s power began to shine in round six as he delivered an incredibly straight right hand that knocked out Gonzalez behind schedule in the round. Gonzalez got up and saw the bell for round seven, but he hit him with a perfect left hook that sent Gonzalez to the mat and almost went through the ropes.

“The most crucial weapon I have is the will to become world champion and the motivation to make my country proud,” Tellez said. “Ever since I left my country, I wanted to win for them.”

“I didn’t properly follow what my corner told me to do and that cost me the fight,” Gonzalez said. “Tellez is a good player and a good prospect. I think if I had been more disciplined, I could have handled this fight better.

Gonzalez again showed his eagerness to continue the fight, but Tellez wasted no time in landing another right hook that knocked Gonzalez to the ground and forced referee Emil Lombardi to wave the fight away.

“I’m here to fight and let my team take care of giving me great opportunities and great opponents,” Tellez said. “I’m ready to fight anyone.”

Kicking off the action on Prime Video, undefeated Mateo Tapia (17-0-1, 10 KO) and fierce Endry Saavedra (16-1-1, 13 KO) fought to a majority draw in an explosive 10-round middleweight fight that saw both men they hit the canvas. Ultimately, one judge’s score of 94-92 for Tapia was replaced by two scores of 93-93.

The action began to heat up in the second round when Saavedra forced Tapia to the ropes and unloaded by connecting with a sore right hand that knocked Tapia down in the final minute of the round. Tapia got up, but Saavedra continued to follow him around the ring and dropped him again before the bell rang to end the round.

“I thought I could get him out of there because I’m a Mexican fighter,” Saavedra said. “I did everything I could and I left everything in the ring. I was surprised he still got up, especially after the second time he was knocked down. But he’s Mexican and he wasn’t going to leave that easily.

“He was getting me in with some tiny shots from the inside and grabbing my legs, and I just had to keep working on him and stay in the fight,” Tapia said.

Saavedra appeared to be in control of the fight until round five, when Tapia responded electrically, knocking his opponent down with a perfectly timed counter right that knocked him to the ground. Saavedra looked more tired for several rounds after the knockdown as Tapia was able to consistently find his offense and avoid the shot he took.

The tide turned in Saavedra’s favor in round nine when he was able to close the distance on Tapia and stayed in the pocket before finally exhausting him and forcing Tapia to the mat again. Tapia showed heart once again to make it to the end of the round and landed some brutal right hands on Saavedra in the final frame. Tapia won the final round on all three cards and earned a draw.

“I was prepared for 10 hard rounds,” Tapia said. “I feel like it could have gone either way. It was a strenuous fight. I knew he was going to make a fight and I just tried to take advantage of it when I had opportunities. I’m glad we were able to give the fans a great fight.”

“Everyone saw the fight and I know the fans believed I won,” Saavedra said. “I can only do my job. The referees had to do their job.”

World Boxing News has learned that Danny Williams was never considered for a fight against Tommy Morrison’s son Kenzie on November 9.

WBN has learned from a source that Williams was scheduled to face Morrison next month when he returns to action at Firelake Arena in Shawnee. However, promoter Tony Holden confirmed what WBN initially reported, namely that Williams had been offered for the fight.

BoxRec also briefly placed Williams within Morrison’s record on November 9, before removing the former British champion. Williams famously knocked out Mike Tyson in 2004, but has since lived off his victory despite losing his British license more than a decade ago.

Holden, who represents Morrison and is looking for an opponent for the competition in three weeks, explained the situation exclusively to WBN.

“I never confirmed William’s story and I never considered him,” Holden said. “I said no when a local promoter suggested it.”

Williams, 51, last fought in August 202, losing for the 33rd time in his career. With 88 professional fights under his belt, Williams seems unable to turn down a payday despite his advanced age.

Morrison, a power puncher who has stopped 19 of his 21 wins, will look for his next conquest elsewhere. The fight with Mike Balogun remains on the table for 2025 after it was postponed from its original October date.

Balogun, who knocked out Kenzi’s brother Trey in the first round, claimed Morrison was pulled from the fight to spare him the loss.

Holden denies this view.

“Even though this post isn’t up to my standards, I’m going to write it anyway. Mike Balogun falsely claimed that I pulled Kenzie Morrison out of the fight because I was afraid he would lose. Please allow me to correct you, Mr. Balogun,” he stated.

“The decision was not made by Kenzie. Let’s raise the stakes and make it fascinating. If you emerge victorious this month, Kenzie will fight in November.

“We may decide this early next year. If your confidence remains unshaken, we can place a significant bet. Watch Kenzie take revenge on her brother and end your career.

Balogun, a former San Francisco 49ers linebacker, responded to Holden by increasing his salary for a potential collision next year.

“No matter how fair and honorable your decision was, just remember that ‘yesterday’s price is not today’s price,’” said the 2010 undrafted pick.

Few people were more disappointed than Andrew Moloney when Kosei Tanaka lost his WBO super flyweight belt to Phumelele Cafu at the Ariake Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Monday night.

The 33-year-old Australian veteran was hoping to get a shot at beating Tanaka in the lucrative Japanese market.

Those dreams were dashed when South Africa’s Cafu delivered the performance of his life, knocking out Tanaka in the fifth round and finishing the fight strongly, beating the four-weight world champion by split decision.

“The plan was to target the WBO and really chase the Tanaka fight, but it all fell apart on Monday night,” Moloney (26-4-1NC, 16 KO) told The Ring. “I think the WBO is probably still the direction we go, but I’m not sure if they have a rematch clause or if Tanaka will take it. But after watching the fight yesterday, I would be really confident that I could fight one of these guys and win. We would like to follow this path.

“I would love to fight Tanaka in Japan as a four-division world champion. He’s definitely someone I’ve looked up to and wanted to fight for a long time.

“Last night was a little hard to watch. The way he performed, I’m more confident than ever that I have what it takes to beat Tanaka.

I assume there will be a rematch and I hope that Tanaka will regain the belt and I will be able to return to the ring and climb the rankings, and maybe this fight will still happen.

Tanaka entered Moloney’s orbit four years ago when he debuted at 115 pounds. Earlier this year, it looked like they were also on a collision course, with Moloney being number one in the WBO rankings. However, when an offer was made for the vacant IBF lightweight title fight between Vasily Lomachenko and George Kambosos Jr. in May in Perth, Western Australia, Moloney felt he couldn’t turn her down.

This decision ended in disaster. Moloney faced Carlos Cuadras, who withdrew from the fight with a ruptured Achilles tendon and was replaced by Pedro Guevara. Moloney entered the fight with a torn bicep and was largely reduced to boxing with one hand, which circumscribed his punching power.

Still, Moloney felt he did more than enough to win, and was shocked when Guevara was declared the winner by split decision. He was so disappointed that he announced immediately after the fight that he was leaving the ring, but a few days later he withdrew these comments.

It was a breakthrough moment in his career.

“Looking back, it’s a wonderful thing, but watching the Tanaka-Cafu fight made me think that maybe I would do a lot of things if I could turn back time a little bit,” Moloney explained.

“Before my last fight, I was number one in the WBO rankings and I rejected the option of waiting to fight Tanaka. But the opportunity arose to fight Guevara in Australia for the interim WBC title on a major card, and to be candid, I kind of regretted that the Tanaka fight was hanging in the balance, but ultimately we decided to stay busy and take the opportunity to fight in Australia.

“Also, the injury before the fight was another thing I thought about: will I undergo surgery, keep the top spot and wait for Tanaka, but I made the decision to go ahead with the fight with Guevara. Looking back now, maybe it wasn’t the smartest thing to do. And looking at the way Tanaka fought last night, I thought maybe I should have waited. I’m sure I could beat Tanaka and take the belt away from him.

“So I take some consolation, but unfortunately you can’t turn back time.”

It’s been a frustrating year for Moloney, but he’s still hitting the gym and his team is working to get him another fight. The window of opportunity to box again this year is closing quickly, but he still hopes to return to the ring in December, most likely in his native Australia.

“I really hope so,” he said. “That’s what I’ve been working on. I have been training strenuous at the gym for some time, quite a few months. I hope to return before the end of the year.

“At this stage it will probably be December. I’m trying to block something, but so far no luck. I’m still training away as if the fight was to take place in December, the team is currently working on it and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we’ll be able to finish it.

“I just hope we can get out before the end of the year, get back into the winner’s circle and start climbing the rankings again.”

Moloney, who fought at bantamweight for the first three years of his professional career before dropping down to super flyweight, surprisingly, said he would even consider moving up to another weight class given the right opportunity.

“It’s a tough time in the super flyweight division,” said Moloney, the eighth challenger to The Ring’s 115-pound title. “There’s a lot going on and it’s always strenuous to plan which route to take because everything changes so quickly. I’d pick Bam Rodriguez to beat Guevara, then there’s talk of a rematch between Kazuto Ioka and Fernando Martinez on Up-to-date Year’s Eve. And then there’s talk of Bama, if they win, fighting the winner of that game in unification. The WBO seems to me the fastest way to win the title, so that’s the path we will follow.

“We have also rejected for some time the idea of ​​moving up to flyweight and getting crack there. There’s also some engaging scene going on there right now, but it’s still uncertain. I’d probably feel a little better at super flyweight, but we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Cafu and Tanaka, but like I said, I’d feel comfortable and confident against either of them, so hopefully he can make it it will happen sooner rather than later.”