Raymond Ford (15-0-1, 8 KOs) rallied to stop previously unbeaten Otabek Kholmatov (12-1, 11 KOs) in the 12th round to win the vacant WBA featherweight title in their headliner on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York.
Ford took a beating in the 11th, suffering a cut from a clash of heads under his right eye. In the twelfth, Ford came back to stagger Khomatov and then tagged him at will, causing him to turn his back to him against the ropes.
Referee Charlie Fitch had no option but to stop the fight. The time was at 2:53 of round twelve. After the fight, Ford revealed that he would be moving up to super featherweight to go after IBF champion Joe Cordina, who is promoted by Eddie Hearn.
If not him, Ford said he would like to fight Emanuel Navarrete, but that’s unlikely due to him going up to lightweight. Cordina would be the best bet, but that’ll be up to Hearn. Cordina likely has other options for bigger paydays.
Otabek Kholmatov battles Raymond Ford for the vacant WBA featherweight title tonight in the main event live on ESPN+ in the Top Rank-promoted card at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, New York. Tonight’s live boxing action begins at 10 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. PT on ESPN+ for the main card. Fight fans in the UK can catch the action at 2 am.
Michael Collins will give live updates below of tonight’s action on the ESPN+ card.
In tonight’s co-feature contest, Luis Alberto Lopez (30-2, 17 KOs) retained his IBF featherweight title with an eighth-round technical knockout win over mandatory Reiya Abe (25-4-1, 10 KOs).
After motioning for the fans to cheer him, Lopez went after Abe. attacking him all out with a storm of heavy shots, causing him to cover up in a shell against the ropes. Seeing that Abe was in dire shape, referee Mark Nelson stepped in and stopped the contest. The time of the stoppage was at 39 seconds of round eight.
Abe suffered a badly swollen right eye in round two after getting caught with a powerful left hand from Lopez. Immediately, Abe’s eye began swelling. From that point on, Ringside was close to stopping the fight after each round.
In a fight marred by head clashes, Brian Normal Jr. (25-0, 19 KOs) and Janelson Figueroa Bocachica (17-2-1, 11 KOs) fought to a third round no decision. The stoppage was at 3:00 of round three.
The fight was halted by the advice of the ringside doctor chose to have the contest stopped due to scalp Bocachica’s scalp cut. He was also cut over his left eye from a head clash. Normal was cut from an elbow to his right eye. Bocachica knocked Norman down in a flash knockdown in the first round.
Light welterweight Bryce Mills (15-1, 5 KOs) had to battle hard to beat the highly motivated  Gerffred Ngayot (6-2, 5 KOs) by a six-round unanimous decision in a war. Mills put much pressure on Ngayot throughout the contest, especially in the early rounds when he was at his strongest.
Mills’ energy seemed to fade in the last two rounds, enabling Ngayot to come on and nail him with shots. It was difficult to score the second half of the contest because although Mills landed more, Ngayot had more power on his shots and they were landing cleaner. The score were 58-56, 60-54 and 60-54. A rematch between these two would make sense.
2020 U.S Olympian Troy Isley (12-0, 5 KOs) scored a seventh-round knockout of a scheduled eight-round fight over veteran Marcos Hernandez (16-7-2, 3 KOs) in middleweight action. Isley, 24, landed a hard right hand to the jaw of Hernandez in the seventh round to put him down.
Referee Mark Nelson stopped the contest after Hernandez got back up. He realized that Hernandez had taken too much punishment, and there was no point in letting him continue. The time of the stoppage was at 1:30 of round seven.
Bantamweight Floyd âCash Flowâ Diaz (11-0, 3 KOs) looked impressive, dominating the always tough Edwin Rodriguez (12-8-2, 5 KOs), winning an eight round unanimous decision.
Diaz hurt Rodriguez in the first round with a nice left hand to the head, but from there, it was a tactical battle. Rodriguez was putting pressure on Diaz throughout the fight, forcing him to fend off his attacks. Diaz edged the rounds with his activity but showed very little power. The scores were 80-72, 78-74 and 79-73.
2020 Olympian Rohan Polanco (12-0, 7 KOs) dominated Tarik Zaina (13-1-1, 8 KOs), winning an eight-round unanimous decision in light welterweight action. The scores were 79-71, 79-71 and 78-72. Zaina was down in rounds seven and eight.
In a bounce-back win, Middleweight Nico Ali Wash (10-1, 5 KOs) pounded out a wide ten-round unanimous decision win over the hard-hitting veteran Charles Stanford (7-6, 4 KOs).
The judges’ scored it 59-55, 60-54 and 60-54. The 23-year-old Walsh walked Stanford down all fight, landing his hard right hands to the head and body.
In the sixth, Stanford finally showed some life, nailing Walsh throughout the round to get the better of him. If Stanford had fought like that the entire contest, he would have likely won.
Heavyweight Brandon Moore (14-0, 8 KOs) dominated Hellaman Olguin (9-7-1, 4 KOs) to win an easy eight-round unanimous decision. The scores were 80-72, 80-72, and 80-72.