Heavyweight contender Jared Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) defeated Ryad Merhy (32-3, 26 KOs) by a boring ten-round unanimous decision on whether neither guy looked good on Saturday night at the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi, Texas. The fight was booed from the second round by fans at ringside, and, surprisingly, they didn’t head for the exit.
The judges” scores were 100-90, 100-90, and 99-91.
Merhy, 32, wasn’t interested in throwing punches and spent most of the fight covering up and moving around. Anderson tried, but he didn’t have power and lacked the killer instinct. He was mostly boxing, trying not to get clipped. Both guys looked mediocre.
Undercard results
In the co-feature bout, Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOs) labored to a close ten-round split decision over 2016 Italian Olympian Guido Vianello (12-2-1, 10 KOs). It was a close fight that could have gone either way or scored a draw.
The fight appeared to be even at the end, but not surprisingly, the judges gave it to the more popular of the two fighters, Ajagba. He looked very mediocre tonight, and I don’t see him beating any of the top guys with this performance.
Ajagba could be used as an opponent for Jared Anderson’s next fight if hie gets past Ryad Merhy tonight. Top Rank will feed Ajagba to Anderson to create a favorable impression.
Vianello appeared to win rounds 1-2 and 9-10. He had Ajagba badly hurt enough in the second round to score it a 10-8 round, arguably.
The scores were 96-94 for Vianello, 96-94 and 96-94 for Ajagba. Vianello faded after two, enabling Ajagba to come on and take the middle rounds of the contest.
In the last two rounds, Vianello pushed hard, outworking an exhausted Ajagba to get the better of him. Ajagba mostly held in rounds nine and ten, trying not to get knocked out.
Super featherweight contender Robson Conceicao (18-2-1, 9 KOs) looked impressive tonight, scoring a seventh-round body shot knockout over Juan Guardado (15-2-1, 5 KOs) in a showcase fight. The 2016 Olympic gold medalist Conceicao dropped Guardado twice with body shots. The time of the stoppage was at 2:27 of the seventh.
Hometown fighter, middleweight prospect Julian Delgado (1-0) brawled his way to a four-round unanimous decision over Juan Tamez (1-1) in an entertaining fight. The scores were 40-36, 40-36 and 39-37.
Featherweight contender Ruben Villa (22-1, 7 KOs) put on a beautiful boxing display, beating the game Christian Cruz Chacon (22-7-1, 11 KOs) by a 10-round unanimous decision.
The judged scores were 98-92, 98-92, and 97-93. Villa dealt with Cruz’s pressure well, connecting with head-snapping jabs and straight lefts. In rounds eight through ten, Villa took the fight to Cruz, out-punching him on the inside and dominating the action against the tired-looking fighter.
Villa’s pedigree was really telling in this fight. The only reason hung in there was Villa’s lack of power.
Welterweight John Rincon (9-0, 2 KOs) used his superior technical skills to box his way to a six-round majority decision over the tough Cuban Yainiel Alvarez (3-4, 1 KOs).
Rincon fought calmly throughout the contest, picking off the 33-year-old Alvarez with beautiful left hands to the head. Alvarez upped the pace of his attacks and outworked Rincon in the fifth and sixth rounds to make the fight interesting. He was like a less-skilled version of Ricardo Mayorga.
The judges’ scores were 57-57, 58-56, and 59-55. Alvarez was warned for rabbit punches in the first and second rounds.
Unbeaten lightweight contender Abdullah Mason (13-0, 11 KOs) put in a masterclass performance, dropping Ronal Ron (14-6, 11 KOs) twice en route to a fourth-round TKO victory in a scheduled eight-round contest.
The 20-year-old southpaw Mason unleashed a storm of unanswered shots in the fourth round against a shelled-up Ron, resulting in the referee Lawrence Cole waving it off. The fight was stopped at 1:02 of round four.
In the first round, Mason landed a straight left to the head of Ron that bowled him over. Mason scored a second knockdown in round three, dropping Ron with a left to the body.
Super featherweight Alejandro Guerrero (13-4, 10 KOs) scored an upset seventh-round knockout of Jalen Walker (12-1-1, 10 KOs).
Guerrero battered the previously unbeaten prospect Walker in the seventh, promoting his corner to throw in the towel. The time of the stoppage was at 1:35.
Making his pro debut, heavyweight prospect Ali Feliz (1-0, 1 KO) defeated Anthony Woodson III (1-2, 1 KO) by a second-round knockout. The time of the stoppage was at 1:16.
