GRADES: TEOFIMO LOPEZ, JOSH TAYLOR, SUNNY EDWARDS, JAIME MUNGUIA & MORE

By: Jay Calderon

So, we certainly didn't have the busiest of weekends. A bit of a change of pace from the last few where it felt like an overload of fights on both sides of the Atlantic.

On Thursday on ESPN, we had undefeated Erik Bazinyan narrowly escape with his record in tact against little-regarded Jose De Jesus Macias in Montreal.

Then, on Saturday in Detroit, and live on DAZN, we had undisputed Middleweight queen pen Claressa Shields defend his crown against Maricela Cornejo. The under card saw a questionable decision go the way of Ardreal Holmes as well.

So, without much more rambling, let's hand out these Grades:

CLARESSA SHIELDS: A
RESULT: DEF. MARICELA CORNEJO, 10UD (MIDDLEWEIGHT)

An undisputed champion of the world should easily dominate a late replacement for that has a few losses to their credit and hasn't truly passed the tests at the top level.

Claressa Shields did just that against Maricela Cornejo.

Originally set up to face former foe Hanna Gabriels, Shields had to adjust to a new dance partner when The aforementioned Gabriels tested positive for a banned substance.

Did it get to her? Did Shields have issues on the night, unable to switch from one opponent to the next? Nope. Not even close. She did what Claressa Shields has done most of her career: dominate from bell to bell.

All you could possibly argue is she didn't finish Cornejo off, but that's nitpicking at that point.

ARDREAL HOLMES: C-
RESULT: WENDY TOUSSAINT, 8TDEC. (

In defense of Ardreal Holmes, Wendy Toussaint was a lot tougher than many might have expected (one of the toughest Wendy's since Richter, different spelling be damned).

Toussaint was rough, made it ugly at times. That said, Toussaint wasn't going to be given any favors or close rounds (obviously), so that had to be the game plan going in.

Still, Holmes didn't seems to handle the adversity all that well. When the action heated up, Holmes was most ineffective up against the ropes and seemed uninterested or unable to fight his way out of it.

Perhaps this is the performance that teaches Holmes, and he's prepared for the potential resistence his foes will bring forth in fufute fights. Still, he escapes with an unpopular win and just barely moves on for now.

WENDY TOUSSAINT: B-
RESULT: LOSS TO ARDREAL HOLMES, 8TDEC. (JR. MIDDLEWEIGHT)

Well, this is a tough one to grade when considering Wendy Toussaint. On the one hand, the performance itself should be commended and you want the grade to reflect that.

On the other hand, he dropped a technical decision to Ardreal Holmes, whether or not the cards appeared to reflect the action in most people's minds.

Ultimately, I feel as though I have to give Toussaint a better grade than Ardreal, regardless of the official result. This mark is based on my opinion of the performance, not the three judge's opinions of the rounds.

Here's hoping for Tousaaint's sake he gets another solid chance to get both the praise and the result a fighter is looking for on the night.

ERIK BAZINYAN: C-
RESULT: DEF. JOSE DE JESUS MACIAS, 10UD (SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT)

This is one of those fights where looking at the scores really does begin to tell the story of the contest itself.

Based on the wide unanimous decision in favor of Erik Bazinyan, you would imagine he comfortably and soundly defeated little-known Jose De Jesus Macias over the distance. However, the last four rounds of that contest tell you otherwise.

Bazinyan was badly hurt in the seventh, struggled in the eighth and ninth and seemed to Another week in boxing, another handful of cards that makes it next to impossible to really catch all of the action. That said, a nice problem to have when the fights are meaningful.

Perhaps the most meaningful of the weekend was Teofimo Lopez' title-winning performance over now-previous champion Josh Taylor in New York's MSG. Also in the states, we saw former titlist Jaime Munguia fight tooth and nail with perennial title challenger Sergiy Derevyanchenko.

Earlier in the day (said the American), Flyweight world titlist Sunny Edwards made relatively easy work of previously-undefeated Andres Campos over the distance.

So, tons of actions for sure. Without any more ado, let's hand out these Grades:

TEOFIMO LOPEZ: A+
RESULT: DEF. JOSH TAYLOR, 12UD (JR. WELTERWEIGHT)

There's nothing else you can give the man: Considering the circumstances, it was the perfect performance.

Heading into the contest, Teofimo Lopez was an underdog against a naturally bigger man in Josh Taylor that had been reigning as world champion at 140 for quite some time. Lopez didn't take a soft touch for his title shot Jr. Welterweight.

And even with a few rough outings at 140 pounds prior to the Taylor win, even with the chaos surrounding his life, and the open questioning of if he can still compete at the world level, the now two weight world champion delivered.

It's easy to dislike Lopez because he and his team say and do some...queationable things at times. However, you have to respect the bear perfect performance under that kind of pressure.

JOSH TAYLOR: C-
RESULT: LOSS TO TEOFIMO LOPEZ, 12UD (JR. WELTERWEIGHT)

Josh Taylor just isn't doing himself any favors fighting at 140 pounds. Now this isn't to take away from Teofimo Lopez or his performance. However, Taylor just doesn't look like a fighter at his full powers shrinking down to Jr. Welterweight.

Perhaps it's age, maybe he's just slowing down. Even still, all the more reason to move up to Welterweight. Cutting so much weight for a size advantage when the cut itself neutralizes said advantage just isn't worth it.

Taylor continued to press when he could, he tries in spurts. But the performance of Lopez coupled with Taylor's inability to keep any momentum made it too steep a hill to climb.

Perhaps the time for Taylor has passed, but he's a good enough fighter he owes it to himself to head north in the divisions and find out for sure.

XANDER ZAYAS: B+
RESULT: DEF. RONALD CRUZ, 8UD (JR. MIDDLEWEIGHT)

It was a workman like performance for a 20-year-old approaching the 20 fight mark.

While it didn't show the dynamic elements to Zayas' game we'd hope to see during his rise, it proved he can remain poised and control a fight down the stretch.

However, as commentator Andre Ward aptly stated, Zayas does seem to get stuck in second gear at times, struggling for new questions to ask his opponent if he's unable to blast them out early.

Still, that's part of the process. Zayas needs to add that element to his game, an ability to push through the resistence and get fighters that don't belong in the ring with him (no disrespect to Ronald Cruz) out of there early.

SUNNY EDWARDS: B+
RESULT: DEF. ANDRES CAMPOS, 12UD (FLYWEIGHT)

At times during his encounter with Andres Campos, Sunny Edwards elected to stand and trade, have a bit of back and forth. During those relatively brief moments, the action was close enough.

However, that isn't Edwards at his best.

When Edwards loves and counters, makes his man miss and sets his traps, he's nearly untouchable for the likes of Campos.

The balance for Edwards is success in the ring and success at the box office.

The first style I mentioned is substantially more interesting for the casual fan, but it makes fights tougher on Edwards. The safer approach he normally takes is where his real skill lays, but it might not draw crowds in by the thousands.

Overall, Edwards did a decent job of trying to balance that in this wide decision win.

JAIME MUNGUIA: B
RESULT: DEF. SERGIY DEREVYANCHENKO, 12UD (SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT)

Well, the team of Jaime Munguia was right when they said Sergiy Derevyanchenko would be his toughest test to date. Whether they really believed that or not, Derevyanchenko definitely pushed Munguia to places he hadn't been up to that point.

Early on, Derevyanchenko looked fresh and seemed to have an answer for just about everything Munguia had to offer. Making matters worse for the Mexican, he didn't seem to have the same pop or punch resistence as he had at the lower weights.

When all was said and done, many felt as though Munguia hadn't done enough to win this fight. In fact, the scores were close enough that you can see an argument for the bout going either way.

However, that's not Munguia's concern. In the ring, he pushed and made a later rally that literally saved him the contest.

He'll need to be better to compete at 168 pounds, but he at least came through when it mattered on the night.

SERGIY DEREVYANCHENKO: B
RESULT: LOSS TO JAIME MUNGUIA, 12UD (SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT)

If I'm Sergiy Derevyanchenko, I'm literally sick of boxing.

In the five losses the Ukrainian has suffered as a pro, you could make an argument that he did enough to win three of them. Yet, as has so often been the case of Sergiy, the bigger fight just never seems to go his way.

He did well for himself against Jaime Munguia. Sergiy had him hurt, outskilled him in spurts and looked in his way to a sizeable upset -- not to mention the biggest win of his career.

However, his inability to stay off the canvas in the twelfth and final round cost him (at least) a draw.

Now, at 37 years of age and a handful of losses, it's tough to see many more chances coming Derevyanchenko's way.
 

LINKS:

- SCHEDULE & ODDS

- RESULTS

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