There were three notable heavyweight fights taking place at The Hammerstein Ballroom in New York last night. In the headline fight, WBA #2 ranked Michael Hunter was held to a grueling draw by Jerry Forrest. The two men gave it their all in an entertaining ten-rounder and in the end, the judges were split, with one official having it 96-94 for Forrest, one judge having it the same way for Hunter, with the third judge having it all level at 95-95. Hunter looked far the worse for wear at the end of the fight, however.
Hunter is now 20-1-2(14), while Forrest (who boxed a draw last time out, with Zhilei Zhang) is now 26-4-2(20).
The shock of the night came when former NFL linebacker Mike Balogun took out Trey Lippe Morrison (son of the late Tommy Morrison) in the opening round. Balogun cracked Lippe Morrison with a left hand that put him down, while Balogun’s follow-up attack finished Lippe Morrison off as he was out on his feet. Time was 2:41 of round one. Balogun is now 18-0(13), while Lippe Morrison lost for the first time and is now 18-1(17). It could be quite a hard rebuild for Lippe Morrison.
Cassius Chaney and George Arias met in another clash of unbeaten big men, and Arias pulled out the ten-round split decision. Arias was busier and he edged enough rounds to earn the victory. It will be interesting seeing where Arias, now 17-0(7) goes next, as it will be interesting seeing how Chaney, now 21-1(14) goes next after tasting pro defeat for the very first time.
Also on the card last night, heavyweight Joe Jones scored a second-round stoppage win over Junior Wright to improve to 13-4(9). Wright falls to 18-4-1(15). While at light-heavyweight, Khainell Wheeler scored a six-round decision over Frederic Julan, via scores of 59-55, 59-55 and 58-56. Wheeler is now 6-1(5), Julan is now 12-1(10).
A good night of fights with some good action and a couple of surprising results.