SHOWTIME RESULTS

Richar Abril W12 Sharif Bogere... It may not have been an artistic success, but Richar "El Tigre" Abril will take it. "I am very happy to get the win, but I'm not happy at all with the way the fight  went," said Abril after retaining his [paper] WBA 135-pound title with a unanimous 12-round decision over the previously undefeated Sharif "The Lion" Bogere in Las Vegas. The lanky, Cuban-born Abril (18-3-1, 8 KOs), of Miami, Fla., won by scores of 116-110 (twice) and 115-111.  Bogere, a Ugandan living in  Las Vegas, dropped to 23-1 with 15 KO. The bout was 36 minutes of holding, grabbing, head-butts and wrestling.  After warning each fighter several times, referee Russell Mora deducted a point from each of them with the 5-foot-11 Abril losing a point for holding in the eighth round and the 5-foot-6½-inch Bogere one for leading with his head in the 12th.  There were no knockdowns, but both took turns tackling each other to the canvas. Compubox had Abril landing 152 punches to Bogere's 93.

Gary Russell, Jr. W10 Vyacheslav Gusev... Southpaw featherweight Gary Russell  Jr. (24-0, 15 KOs), of Capitol Heights, Md., scored one knockdown en route to a lopsided ten-round decision over Russia's Vyacheslav Gusev (20-3, 5 KO's).  Despite hurting both his hands during the fight, featherweight Russell hurled a shutout by the lopsided score of 100-89 on all three judges' scorecards. Russell fought the last several rounds with a bruised left hand.  "I think I hurt it in the third round," he said.  "The last few rounds I was tentative with it and only showed it to him.  My corner knew I'd hurt it and did a great job between rounds coming up with different strategies, like starting off with a stiff jab and maintaining it, and slowing down the pace. My right hand is bruised too, but I don't think it is anything serious.  I fully expect to fight again in three months." Gusev, making his second start in the United States, connected on just 33 of the 214  punches he delivered, the lowest total in the history of CompuBox for a 10-round fight.

UNDERCARD: Middleweight Jorge Melendez (26-2-1, 25 KOs), of Manati, P.R., knocked out Ryan Davis (24-10-3), of Granite  City, Ill., in the fourth round; light heavyweight Thomas Williams (13-0, 10 KOs), of Fort Washington, Md., registered a third-round TKO over Kevin Engel  (20-8, 16 KOs), of St. Louis; and lightweight Jeffrey Fontanez (11-0, 9 KOs) of Caguas, P.R., took a six-round unanimous decision over Daniel Attah (27-14-1, 10 KOs), of Washington, D.C.; Super middleweight Luis Arias (4-0), of Las Vegas, flattened Arsenio Terrazas (9-4), of Mexicali, Mex., in the first round; and welterweight Sammy Vasquez (7-0), of Monessen, Pa., scored a second-round TKO over Leandro Albornoz (15-2-1), of Fort Lauderdale, Fla. source for all results: showtime press release