From the MGM National Harbor “Mr.” Gary Russell Jr. (28-1, 17 KOs) had a successful homecoming in front of a nearly sold out crowd as he defended his WBC Featherweight World title with a seventh-round stoppage against the very tough, strong-willed Colombian Oscar Escandon (25-3, 17 KOs) in the main event of SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING.
(Photo Credit: Tom Casino/SHOWTIME)
In a 12-round clash for the IBF Interim Super Middleweight Title, Flint, Michigan’s Andre Dirrell, (26-2, 16 KOs), was declared the winner after round eight as Jose Uzcategui, (26-2, 22 KOs) of Merida, Venezuela, was disqualified for a punch after the bell sounded to end the eighth round.
Uzcategui started fast, battering Dirrell from the opening round, cutting off the ring and slamming away with body and head shot through the first three rounds. Dirrell saw success starting in the fourth round, countering Uzcategui and scoring well.
Two-division world champion Rances Barthelemy (26-0, 13 KOs) won a 12-round unanimous decision over valiant Kiryl Relikh, (25-3, 16 KOs), of Baranovichi, Byelorussia. Scores in the WBA Super Lightweight eliminator were 116-110, 115-111 and 117-109.
The opening two rounds of the fight featured excellent action with both fighters attempting to impose their will. In the third round Relikh suffered a low blow resulting in a two-minute delay, however, no point deduction was made by referee Kenny Chevalier. Following the low blow, the shorter Relikh became much more aggressive.
IBF World super featherweight champion Gervonta Davis (18-0, 17 KOs) showed off his class and punching power tonight in smashing Liam Walsh (21-1, 14 KOs) in destroying him by a 3rd round knockout in his first defense at the Copper Box Arena in London, England. The fight was quickly stopped after Davis flattened Walsh with 2 lefts to the head.
Little known, German cruiserweight prospect Mario Daser (13-0, 6 KOs) scored a surprising 3rd round knockout over former 4 time world title challenger Ola Afolabi (22-6-4, 11 KOs) Friday night at the Barclaycard Arena in Hamburg, Germany. Daser, 28, knocked the 37-year-old Afolabi down with a left to the body in the 3rd.
Afolabi took a knee and looked like he was getting ready to get back up. However, just at that moment, Afolabi’s corner came into the ring to have the fight stopped. Referee Frank Michael Maass then halted the fight at that point. The official time of the stoppage was at 2:00 of round 3.
IBF welterweight champion Kell Brook didn’t bargain for how much work would be involved in getting down to 147 pounds for his fight against Errol Spence Jr. on May 27. Brook has been cutting for weeks and weeks since he started training camp following his 5th round knockout loss to Gennady “GGG” Golovkin on September 10 last year. Brook will have the hometown advantage over Spence in facing him at Bramall Lane in Sheffield, England. However, that may work against the 30-year-old Brook because the boxing fans might motivate him to brawl with Spence. If Brook is weight drained, he’s not going to last long against a puncher like Spence. Brook could be Chris Algieri 2.0.
Unified welterweight champion Keith Thurman is recovering from surgery on his right elbow and expects to be out of action until the end of 2017.
Thurman, who held the WBA 147-pound title, defeated WBC 147-pound champion Danny Garcia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on March 4 to become the unified 147-pound champion. Thurman fought through severe pain in his right elbow to secure the 12-round unanimous decision victory.
Yesterday, reigning WBA World Super Bantamweight Champion Guillermo “El Chacal” Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KOs) and USBA Middleweight Champion Luis “Cuba” Arias (17-0, 8 KOs) participated in a media workout at the historic Tropical Park boxing gym in Miami. Both fighters are preparing for championship defenses on the HBO Pay-Per-View telecast of Andre Ward vs. Sergey Kovalev 2: “The Rematch” on Saturday, June 17 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas. Rigondeaux will face interim WBA title holder Moises “Chucky” Flores (25-0, 17 KOs), while Arias takes on rising prospect Arif “The Predator” Magomedov (18-1, 11 KOs). The championship event, presented by Corona Extra, will be produced and distributed live by HBO Pay-Per-View® beginning at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
New York City’s Madison Square Garden will host a Top Rank Inc. event featuring pound for pound ranked Terrence Crawford and contender Felix Diaz in the main event. The matchup itself is flying under the radar as is Crawford’s opponent who sits around a +900 underdog on the betting books. Terence Crawford, a two-weight champion and Omaha, Nebraska native, is primed to carry the torch for the next generation. The problem is his resume lacks real depth and name recognition to spark a light to that heavy torch. Although Felix Diaz is not a name to heighten Terrence’s stature he may present problems to the 140-unified king as Yuriorkis Gamboa did almost three years ago.
In advance of the highly anticipated light heavyweight championship rematch between world-class prizefighters Andre Ward and Sergey … continue