Winners and Losers in Boxing from the Week of July 22

We’re spanning the globe, to give you the constant variety of sports.

Or, in this case anyway, the consistent inconsistency of boxing.

At any rate, this is the first in what we expect will be a series of late weekend visits, in which we recap the week that was and nominate a few of the most noteworthy winners and losers—both in and out of the ring.

Among other things, the last seven days gave us a six-round main event in China, a bloodbath slugfest in San Antonio and one unbeaten welterweight’s untimely struggle with geography on live television.

Click through to see if your favorites made the list.

Winner: Argentina

Though Buenos Aires native Diego Chaves was a TKO loser in a welterweight showdown with fellow unbeaten Keith Thurman, his gutty effort on Saturday night was the latest in a series of triumphs for the mammoth South American country with nearly 3,000 miles of Atlantic coastline.

Expectations were understandably modest for a 27-year-old who’d fought just once outside the homeland—but Chaves not only gave Thurman his biggest push in 21 pro fights, he also lived up to the mettle shown by countryman Lucas Matthysse, Marcos Maidana and Sergio Martinez.

If the Showtime spot was indicative, we all have another reason to bone up on geography.

Loser: Keith Thurman

OK, he defeated rugged Argentine Diego Chaves to stay unbeaten and earned the $10,000 “Knockout Kings” bonus from promoter Oscar De La Hoya, but the Floridian with the still-pristine record will be best remembered for a post-fight mistake at the AT&T Center.

Face to face with Showtime’s Jim Gray in the aftermath of a come-from-behind 10th-round TKO win, Thurman wanted to go the extra mile to thank the crowd for its support—but mistakenly went about 1,300 miles west, thanking San Diego instead of San Antonio for the love.

Perhaps some of the winnings will go toward a new Rand McNally atlas.

Winner: Nihito Arakawa

It’s not often that the swollen-faced loser of a one-sided 12-round bout can emerge as one of a fight card’s biggest winners, but that was certainly the case with the 31-year-old who went in as the WBC’s top contender at 135 pounds.

Nihito Arakawa combined with Texas-based prospect Omar Figueroa in an early favorite for 2013’s best fight, pushing the youngster through 36 minutes for the first time in his career while combining with the 23-year-old to throw 2,112 punches and land 760.

His performance was foremost in the mind of Showtime’s Al Bernstein, who said in the aftermath that he’d “seldom, if ever, seen a night with more drama, more action and more courage from the fighters involved.”

Loser: The Welterweight Division

If the intelligence gathered and announced by the Showtime broadcast team on Saturday night in San Antonio is true, the welterweight division will be without one of its biggest names and top-shelf champions—Adrien Broner—for the foreseeable future.

Blow-by-blow man Mauro Ranallo said Broner, who won the WBA’s 147-pound title with a split decision over Paulie Malignaggi, said the unbeaten Cincinnati native has decided to maintain his status as the WBC’s kingpin at 135 pounds and will relinquish the heavier crown.

Such a move at least temporarily eliminates a series of attractive matchups for Broner with fellow Golden Boy properties Robert Guerrero, Marcos Maidana and Victor Ortiz, and casts him back among the lightweights, where the WBC’s top five consists of Nihito Arakawa, Daniel Estrada, Omar Figueroa, Denis Shafikov and Jorge Linares.

Winner: Victor Ortiz

He hasn’t had a fight in 13 months and hasn’t won one in more than two years, but the former WBC welterweight title-holder—most recently seen stumbling through the early weeks of “Dancing With the Stars”—might have still taken a quantum leap toward Floyd Mayweather Jr. on Saturday.

Ortiz’s gain comes courtesy of a San Antonio loss by former foe Andre Berto, who’d also been included on a short list of potential foes for Mayweather by Showtime boxing executive Stephen Espinoza. Berto’s exit presumably means a one-rung climb up the ladder for Ortiz, whom Espinoza said was still in line for a rematch thanks to the controversial nature of his 2011 match with “Money.”

A return for the Californian is reportedly set for early September.

Loser: Andre Berto

A few years back, the Floridian with Haitian roots was unbeaten, had a title belt and was consistently in the mix when it came to top-tier or second-tier fights in the welterweight division. The last little while, though, has been a bit more difficult.

Berto had a potential big-money match with Shane Mosley scuttled by the Haitian earthquake, dropped his WBC welter belt to Victor Ortiz in a memorable brawl and missed a chance at a rematch thanks to a failed drug test—instead watching as Ortiz got the date with Mayweather.

A subsequent loss to Robert Guerrero meant another missed “Money” chance for Berto, and Saturday’s final-round TKO loss to Jesus Soto Karass probably bumps him off the imminent radar for a while and has left further questions about whether he’ll continue his career at all.

Winner: Leon Spinks III

Had you spent your Thursday wandering hotel ballrooms in Southern California, you might very well have stumbled upon the most recent incarnation of one of boxing’s most familiar names.

Leon Spinks III, the grandson of the former Olympic gold medalist and heavyweight champion, picked up his sixth win in seven pro fights with a majority four-round decision over 18-year-old Arizona newbie Jesus Aguinaga at the Four Points Sheraton in San Diego.

Now 25, Spinks III is 6-0-1 while ranging between 134 and 143.5 pounds on a rangy 5’11” frame. Still, the defeat of Aguinaga was just his second against an opponent who’d actually won a pro fight.

Loser: Alexandru Petrica

We’ve all heard it. If at first you don’t succeed…try, try again.

But even this guy’s closest friends might concede that it’s time for an intervention.

A native Romanian, Alexandru Petrica returned from a two-year ring hiatus on Saturday in Lombardia, Italy, but little else changed as he dropped a four-round decision to Maurizio Caggiano in the latter's debut as a pro.

Oh, had we mentioned it was Petrica's 25th loss in 25 pro fights?

Winner: Showtime

It’s getting a little routine, but don’t expect Stephen Espinoza and his colleagues to complain.

Saturday night in San Antonio was the latest in a series of weekend successes for Espinoza’s employer, Showtime, in its perpetual quest to unseat rival HBO as the destination of choice for premium cable television boxing.

An opening feature between Keith Thurman and Diego Chaves was compelling, the middle bout matching Omar Figueroa and Nihito Arakawa was thrilling, and the main event between Jesus Soto Karass and Andre Berto would have been good enough on most nights to garner headlines.

Compared to what aired earlier in the day elsewhere on the dial, it was nothing short of a dominant victory for the rapidly advancing player in the two-sided battle.

Loser: HBO

Hey, didn’t you used to be the “Network of Champions”?

It certainly didn’t seem that way Saturday, when compared to Showtime.

While the long-standing little brother in the premium cable wars turned in another stellar card from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, HBO took its show on the road more than 8,000 miles to Macau, China.

The problem is, with the presence of heavy hitters Manny Pacquiao, Brandon Rios and Mikey Garcia in the crowd, the ring was still inhabited by Evgeny Gradovich, Juan Francisco Estrada and Zou Shiming as winners in three bouts only a hardcore fan could love.

The network will surely bounce back when Pacquiao and Rios return to the Far East and get together on pay-per-view in November, but the interim looks grim at best.