Melson Gets Another KO

Junior middleweight Boyd Melson knocked out Kelvin Kibler at 1:30 of the third round in their bout held tonight at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, New York. Kibler had been ineffective for much of the fight and, after receiving an overhand left, referee Benjy Esteves stepped in to stop the bout.

Melson, who weighed in at 154 pounds, advanced to 4-0 with two KOs. Kibler, who was 152, fell to 0-6-2. Melson will donate his purse to support stem cell research for spinal cord injuries (http://www.justadollarplease.org).

Cruiserweight Update

It is being reported that Ran Nakash is scheduled to face Lou Del Valle on July 23 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Nakash (25-1, 18 KOs) and Del Valle (36-6-2, 22 KOs) were going to fight last summer, but Del Valle backed out. Nakash ended up defeating Victor Barragan by unanimous decision instead.

Nakash is coming off of a gritty performance in a decision loss to beltholder Marco Huck in April. Del Valle, who will be 43 years old at the time of the contest, hasn't fought in the ring since before he was supposed to take on Nakash a year ago.

The bout between Alexander Frenkel (23-0, 18 KOs) and Silvio Branco (61-10-2, 37 KOs) will apparently be postponed and should take place in July. It is still scheduled to take place in Civitavecchia, Italy. Frenkel's opponent, Branco, is even older than Nakash's, Del Valle, as he is turning 45 in August.

Quick Turnaround for Melson

Junior middleweight Boyd Melson, who just fought last month, is scheduled to get back into the ring on June 10 on the Boricua Invasion card, which will take place at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, New York.

Melson (3-0, 1 KO) defeated Hector Rivera by TKO in 44 seconds on May 19 in a fight which also took place at the Roseland. He is penciled in to face 5'10" Kelvin Kibler (0-5-2) from South Carolina in a four-round bout.

About the quick turnaround, Melson said, "It is a blessing to be able to compete again a few weeks later. We had our best camp heading into our last fight in comparison to our camps for our previous two fights, and this good fortune allowed us to pick right back up where we left off without any interruption."

Melson will again donate his purse to Justadollarplease, an organization dedicated to stem cell research for spinal cord injuries.

Foreman to Reconsider Boxing Career in a Year

After his first two career losses, Yuri Foreman plans to stay away from the ring... at least for a while. Foreman told The Jewish Boxing Blog, "I'm about to take a year off from boxing," at which point he will decide whether or not to resume his boxing career.

Foreman said he will now "focus on things I always wanted to do but never had time for." One of them includes running in his first race.

Foreman (28-2, 8 KOs), arguably the best Jewish boxer of the past few decades, won the WBA junior middleweight title from Daniel Santos on November 14, 2009. He valiantly defended the title against Miguel Cotto on June 5, 2010 during the first boxing event in the new Yankee Stadium. After tearing his ACL, Foreman continued to fight, but came up short. Foreman was admittedly flat in his last fight against Pawel Wolak this past March 12.

Best wishes to Yuri Foreman and his family in whatever he decides.