(Photo Credit: Ryan Hafey/Jordan Hardy/Premier Boxing Champions) Undefeated 154lb contender Ericson Lubin (16-0, 11 KOs) beat the tough but limited Ivan Montero (26-2, 8 KOs) by an eight round unanimous decision on Saturday night at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The 20-year-old Lubin tried his best to KO the over-matched Montero, but he lacked the explosiveness, power and the hand speed to get the job done.
Jeff Sorby
Deontay Wilder stops Chris Arreola
(Photo Credit: Ryan Hafey/Jordan Hardy/Premier Boxing Champions) WBC heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KOs) beat #9 WBC Chris Arreola (36-5-1, 31 KOs) by an 8th round stoppage tonight in their fight on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox Sports from the Legacy arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Arreola had taken a pounding from Wilder and his corner decided that he’d had enough after the round ended. Arreola’s left eye was nearly closed, and he had a cut near the bridge of his nose.
Felix Diaz defeats Sammy Vasquez
(Photo Credit: Ryan Hafey/Jordan Hardy/Premier Boxing Champions) In a major setback in the career of the previously unbeaten welterweight contender Sammy Vasquez (21-1, 15 KOs), he was beaten tonight by the 5’5″ Felix Diaz (18-1, 8 KOs) by a 10 round unanimous decision at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. The judges scored the fight a 10 round draw initially. However, on a recount of the scores, the judges scored it 96-93, 95-94, and 95-94, for the 32-year-old Diaz.
Smith Jr. destroys Fonfara; Lubin defeats Sandoval; Warren beats Payano
Hard punching light heavyweight Joe Smith Jr. (22-1, 17 KOs) pulled off a big upset tonight in defeating former world title challenger WBC #2, WBA #3, WBO #4 Andrzej Fonfara (28-4, 16 KOs) in halting him in round one tonight in front of his own fans at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois.
Smith timed Fonfara with a right hand and put him down hard. When he got back up, Smith finished him off with a series of hard right hands to that head. The referee stopped it at 2:32 of the round. Fonfara never even had a chance to get warmed up properly. It was over that quickly.
Lomachenko destroys Martinez; Verdejo wins
Vasyl Lomachenko (6-1, 4 KOs) used his superior boxing skills to defeat WBO super featherweight champion Roman “Rocky” Martinez (29-3-3, 17 KOs) by a 5th round knockout tonight in a one-sided fight at Madison Square Garden in New York. Lomachenlo made it look easy in hitting Martinez and rarely getting hit back in this one-sided contest.
Liam Smith stops Predrag Radosevic
WBO junior middleweight champion Liam “Beefy” Smith (23-0-1, 13 KOs) made his case that he deserves a big money fight against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez tonight in crushing challenger Predrag Radosevic (30-2, 11 KO) in the 2nd round in their fight at the Echo Arena in Liverpool, UK. Smith used powerful body shots to hurt and stop Radosevic in the 2nd round.
Tony Bellew KOs Illunga Makabu in 3rd!
Underdog Tony Bellew (27-2-1, 17 KOs) came into tonight’s fight against #1 WBC Illunga Makabu (19-2, 19 KOs) as a slight underdog, but he came out the champion and the new WBC cruiserweight belt holder after stopping the South African in the 3rd round at the Goodison Park Stadium in Liverpool, UK.
Things weren’t looking good for the 33-year-old Bellew initially after he got greedy in the 1st round and was put on his backside by a scorching left hand to the head from Makabu. Bellew regrouped well in the 2nd and 3rd round to come back to dominate and stop the 28-year-old Makabu. In the final sequence in the 3rd, Bellew landed a hard right to the head of Makabu that caused his legs to shudder slightly.
Burns stops Di Rocco, wins WBA 140lb title
Former two division world champion Ricky Burns (40-5-1, 14 KOs) successfully resurrected his career tonight with his 8th round knockout win over the highly rated No.1 WBA Michele Di Rocco (40-2-1, 18 KOs) to claim the vacant World Boxing Association light welterweight title at the SSE Hydro in Glasgow, Scotland.
The stoppage for the 33-year-old Burns makes him a thee division world champion. Burns flattened Di Rocco with some nice shots in the 8th. When Di Rocco got back to his feet, his equilibrium appeared to be off, which led to referee Terry O’Connor stopping the fight.
Lara defeats Martirosyan in dull fight
With the help of a blown call from referee Vic Drakulich, WBA World junior middleweight champion Erislandy Lara (23-2-2, 13 KO) was able to beat Vanes Martirosyan (36-2-1, 21 KOs) by a 12 round unanimous decision tonight at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, Chelsea Ballroom, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. The referee Drakulich ruled that a shot on the belt-line of Lara was considered a low blow in the 11th.
Jermall Charlo defeats Austin Trout
IBF junior middleweight champion Jermall Charlo (24-0, 18 KOs) was fortunate to hold onto his IBF title tonight in his title defense against challenger Austin Trout (30-3, 17 KOs) at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada. Charlo, 26, won the fight by a 12 round unanimous decision by the scores of 115-113, 116-112, 116-112.
The fight was close enough to be scored a draw. Charlo fell apart in the second half of the contest in tiring out and getting basically swept by Trout in the last five rounds. Trout fought well enough to win the 1st round. If you do the math, Trout should have been given a draw. However, he was the B-side in this fight and Charlo the A-side. For Trout to have won the fight, he would have needed to really give Charlo a pounding rather than fighting him to a standstill like he did tonight.