No matter for the former welterweight/junior middleweight champion. The judges returned scorecards of 116-114, 115-114 and 114-114, with Williams having the edge on the first two.

As the bout wound down...

Official scores were 115-112 and 115-111 for Mares with one judge ruling in favor of Darchinyan, 115-111.

Mares (20-0-1, 13 KO's) dealt with adversity early, suffering the cut at the end of the first round...

With the win Floyd stayed perfect, improving to 41-0 with 25 KO's.

The battle was fought at welterweight, with Mosley (46-6, 39 KO's) being considered by many as the first legit 147-pounder that Floyd has faced in that division. The size and strength advantages turned out to be all Mayweather's....

One - Botha throws the overhand right. Good body shots by Botha. A lot of clinching after they throw power punches. Holyfield gets a head butt in with 40 seconds left. And another. Botha gets a warning for hitting behind the head after doing it several times in clinches. 10-9 Botha.

Two – Holyfield out on the attack. Botha lands a counter right to the side of the head. Holyfield more assertive this round. Right hand on the inside knocks Holyfield back to the corner. Good right by Holyfield. Botha working the body well. Solid overhand right by Holyfield. Another Botha round. 10-9 Botha, 20-18 Botha.

Three – Another warning for Botha. He does it when Holyfield butts him. Evander tries to bull his way in...

Referee Benjy Esteves stopped the contest at the :44 mark of round seven.

Luevano threw a few more punches over the course of the fight but JuanMa had the upper hand in each round due to his power shots. Luevano got a lot of good work done against Lopez, who is also the WBO jr. featherweight champ. But the heavy hands of Lopez carried the day, both in the scoring of each round and in ending the fight suddenly .

CABAZON, Calif. (Dec. 31, 2011) – Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell made triumphant returns to the ring Friday, both winning by knockout during a special edition of ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME®.

Taylor (29-4-1, 18 KOs), of Little Rock, Ark., registered an eighth-round knockout over game but outclassed Jessie Nicklow (22-3-3, 8 KOs), of Baltimore, Md., in the main event at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa.

Dirrell (20-1, 14 KOs), of Flint, Mich., scored two knockdowns en route a second-round knockout over Darryl Cunningham (24-3, 10 KOs), of Detroit, in the co-feature.

Taylor was making his first start in 26 months; Dirrell his first in 21.

In the opening bout of the telecast...

Dan Rafael of ESPN is reporting that Ward first hurt the hand about a week before the fight and had X-rays done, but no break was revealed. In the sixth round vs. Froch, Ward hurt the hand again and an MRI done on Thursday showed two breaks.

All the details can be read in Rafael's story here.

NEW YORK (Dec. 13, 2011) – With four days remaining untilthe dramatic conclusion to the Super SixWorld Boxing Classic, finalists and world champions Andre Ward and Carl Froch assembled with their camps at the Edison Ballroom in New York City for the promotion’s final press conference before the teams head 100-plus miles down the road toAtlantic City. The Final will air LIVE this Saturday,Dec. 17 on SHOWTIME®(9 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J.

Press traveled from around the country and across the pondto attend today’s press conference, filling the midtown Manhattan venue with writers, photographersand cameramen. Froch arrived more than fashionably late but Ward stayed poisedas usual. Once on stage, the two men agreed that Saturday’s fight isunequivocally the battle for the super middleweight supremacy – but onlittle else.

Here’s what the principal participants had to sayduring today’s media gathering:

Miguel Cotto defended his WBA junior middleweight title while avenging a brutal loss with a TKO10 over Antonio Margarito Saturday night. Cotto (37-2, 30 KO's) thrilled the Madison Square Garden crowd and blew up Margarito's right eye, which forced the ring doctor to stop the fight at :03 of the 10th round.

Margarito (38-8, 27 KO's) handed Cotto his first career loss back in 2008 with a vicious 11th round TKO but was caught in a cloud of suspicion in his next fight when Shane Mosely's camp caught him with plaster in his wraps. The revelation cast doubt on Margarito's punishing win over Cotto, which set the stage for Saturday's rematch.

The right eye of Margarito was badly damaged in his last fight against Manny Pacquaio, a unanimous decision loss for the Tijuana fighter. Cotto went to work on that eye and had it closed by the seventh round.

At the time of the stoppage Cotto held and advantage of 89-82 on all three judges' scorecards.

Cotto continues his impressive career with his only two losses coming at the hands of Margarito and Pacquaio, the first loss now avenged. Margarito, with suspicions still lingering over his wins prior to the Mosely fight, has now lost three of his last four outings.

Saul "Canelo" Alvarez succesfully defended his WBC junior middleweight title with a fifth-round stoppage of Kermit Cintron in Mexico City Saturday night. Alvarez (39-0-1, 29 KO's) predictably landed the heavier shots as he overpowered the veteran Cintron.

Official time of the stoppage was 2:53 of round five.

The bout started slowly but Alvarez turned up the heat in the fourth when he landed a right hand to the jaw that sent the challenger to a kneeling position in the corner. Cintron (33-5-1, 28 KO's) beat the count but never seemed to regain his balance after that. The round ended with Cintron badly dazed and bleeding from the nose as he was held up by the ropes. It was all the former IBF welterweight champion could do to get back to his corner.

Surprisingly, Cintron got off some powerful shots in the fifth but they didn't do any damage to the 21-year old prodigy. Alvarez let his hands go and hurt Cintron badly against the ropes near the end of the round. Referee Hector Afu waved off the bout.

The Canelo Alvarez magic was on display, whether or not Cintron was much of a live opponent. Cintron is definitely on the down side of his career and has now lost three of his last four fights, but the speed and power of the youngster were very impressive. Alvarez has fight-changing power in both hands and he carries himself very calmly while looking for an opening to unload.

Alvarez is young in age, but very experienced with 40 pro fights under his belt at 21. His thick frame hints at a future above 154. A dream match with WBC middleweight champ Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. is one of many interesting possibilities.