“Just think, George Foreman would be a small heavyweight today,” Showtime’s Steve Farhood.
Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, all 298 pounds of him, scored a notable, career-best win last night in his native New York. The unbeaten big man – very big, in every sense of the word: big in size and weight, big in personality, big in punching power – stopped Gerald Washington after eight largely one-sided rounds.
The full under-card for the (still not sold-out) Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor show is still to be announced, but it seems red-hot 130-pounder Gervonta Davies will make the second defence of his IBF title at The T-Mobile on August 26, against former WBO champ Roman “Rocky” Martinez.
Davies, 18-0(17) needs tougher, bigger fights perhaps, but at age 22, “Tank” needs time to fully develop into the great fighter many people think he can and will become, so a fight against the Puerto Rican makes decent enough sense – even if Martinez has done nothing to earn himself a shot at another world title.
Three-division world champion Mikey Garcia kept his undefeated record intact with a dominant 12-round performance against four-division world champion Adrien Broner in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING, Saturday on SHOWTIME from Barclays Center, the home of BROOKLYN BOXING®.
(Photo credit: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME)
Undefeated Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) made his debut at 160-pounds with a stoppage of Argentine contender Jorge Sebastian Heiland (29-5-2, 16 KOs) in the co-featured event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING. The stoppage came at 2:13 of the fourth round after Charlo delivered a devastating left hook followed by a big right to end the fight.
Charlo, of Houston, Texas, dominated the pace from the beginning. He landed the sharper and more accurate punches throughout the fight, especially in the first round where he landed 50 percent of his power shots to Heiland’s 13 percent. Charlo’s straight right was his power weapon throughout the contest.
Irish sensation Katie Taylor (6-0, 4 KOs) stopped Jasmine Clarkson (4-9) after three rounds of action in the latter fighter’s U.S. debut.
The Olympic Gold medalist was dominant from the outset, stalking her opponent around the ring and consistently trapping her in the corner. Taylor was effective with both hands and did most of her work to the head of Clarkson. After three rounds of damage, Clarkson’s corner stopped the bout and gave Taylor her first stateside win as a pro.
Headlining the “SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING Prelims” on Facebook Live, heavyweight Jarrell Miller (19-0-1, 17 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y., stopped former world title challenger Gerald Washington (18-2-1, 12 KOs) after eight-rounds.
Miller used his significant size advantage and effective power-punching to break down the former collegiate football player. Washington had some success early with his jab and body attack, but was not able to stay out of punching range of Miller
Sadam “The World Kid” Ali (25-1, 14 KOs) took a decisive step towards once again fighting for a world title tonight with a unanimous decision victory against former two-time interim WBA Super Lightweight champion Johan “El Terrible” Perez (22-4-4, 15 KOs). The 10-round fight, which earned Ali the vacant WBA International Welterweight, was the main event of the latest edition of Golden Boy Boxing on ESPN from Casino Del Sol in Tucson, Arizona.
Mikey Garcia (37-0, 30 KOs) arguably finished off the career of Adrien “The Problem” Broner (33-3, 24 KOs) in beating him by a lopsided 12 round unanimous decision to win the WBC Diamond light welterweight title on Saturday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
#2 WBC middleweight contender Jermall Charlo (26-0, 20 KOs) took advantage of a badly injured Jorge Sebastian Heiland (29-5-2, 16 KOs) to knock him down 2 times and stop him in the 4th round on Saturday night to become the mandatory challenger to WBC champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Nigerian female boxing superstar, Helen ‘Iron Lady’ Joseph made a strong case for another crack at the world title with a devastating round two knockout victory over home favourite, Shannon O’Connell at the Famous Fortitude Gym, Newstead, Queensland in Australia on Saturday.
The two-time world title challenger dominated throughout the short period the fight lasted and caught O’Connell with a deadly uppercut at the tail end of the opening round that sent the Australian sprawling helplessly to the canvas in front of her own people. She was however saved by the bell which sounded just after she was motioned to fight again after beating the count.