John Wayne Hibbert TKO8 Tyler Goodjohn
John Wayne Hibbert 15-2 (9KO’s) took another huge step towards a tilt at the British light welterweight title, producing an eye-catching display to halt Tyler Goodjohn 11-4 (4KO’s) in the 8th round.
Given the obligatory social media bad blood in the lead up to the contest, there was a feeling that war would be declared from the opening bell. Hibbert had other ideas moving freely in and out of range, stinging the marching Goodjohn with sharp combinations.
From the first punch until the last Mitchell, now 39-2 (29KO’s), was punch perfect as he completely dismantled a credible opponent in a career best showing.
Estrada, who now moves to 32-4 (24KO’s), looked surprised from the first exchange in the face of the superior speed of thought and movement from the Londoner who beat the Mexican to the punch on every occasion. Mitchell a standout victor of the first round accentuated the point landing flush with his lead left uppercut, the punch that would define the fight.
photo by David Spagnolo/Main Events – Seven to one underdog Tony “Lightning” Luis handed hyped lightweight Karl “Dynamite” Dargan his first loss with a unanimous ten round decision on an ESPN 2 Friday Night Fight card at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
WBA number 13 Canadian Luis (19-2, 7 kos) out fought Dargan (17-1, 9 kos) from the second round on and it was a long night for the Philadelphian who entered the ring rated no. 15 IBF and no. 31.
The 5’9 Naazim Richardson trained Dargan took the first round as Luis fell short with most of punches following his rangier opponent around.
The much-anticipated main event featured Philadelphian Karl “Dynamite” Dargan (17-1, 9 KOs)* against Tony “The Lightning” Luis (28-5, 18 KOs) for the WBC Continental Americas Lightweight Championship.
For an unbearably long time, camp Manny Pacquiao was pointing fingers at Floyd Maywether Jr. for delaying, or even avoiding their fight. At the same time, camp Mayweather Jr. were doing the exact same thing, proclaiming that Top Promoter Bob Arum is not letting the fight come to fruition, while Pacquiao is evading certain terms and conditions.
All of this just came to an end, at least for now. In a recent interview with the New York Post, Bob Arum stated that he is now convinced that Mayweather Jr. truly does want this fight to happen: “Based on the meeting with Pacquiao in the hotel suite, Manny and Michael Koncz were convinced Floyd absolutely wants to do the fight.”
Dagenham-born Mitchell faces Mexican Daniel Estrada for the vacant WBC Silver lightweight and a guaranteed shot at Jorge Linares’ recently acquired WBC strap.
It promises to be a raucous occasion with a card stacked with local interest. Not least of all John Ryder’s defence of his recently acquired WBO Inter-Continental middleweight title against late replacement Billi Godoy.
Here we will take a look at what’s in store as we kick of a huge 2015 for British boxing.
On Thursday night, DiBella Entertainment (DBE) hosted an action-packed Broadway Boxing card in front of a raucous sold-out crowd at NYC’s famed B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, sponsored by Manfredi Auto Group and Everlast, headlined by the always-exciting world-ranked super bantamweight contender Rafael Vazquez, who put on an impressive display of punching power.
In the evening’s main event, Vazquez, 122, scored an impressive TKO after four rounds over San Antonio’s Joseph Rios. Following a tame first frame, Vazquez twice dropped Rios in round two with left hooks. In the third, Vazquez was hurting Rios, 120¼, with every punch, particularly his straight rights. A jab-straight right combination to the ear brought a downtrodden Rios to his knees at the end of the fourth round. Rios did not continue on into the fifth. Vazquez improved to 13-1 (11 KOs), while Rios saw his record fall to 13-12-2 (4 KOs).
World Boxing Association (WBA) Super, World Boxing Organization (WBO) and The Ring Magazine super bantamweight champion Guillermo “The Jackal” Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KOs) is encouraged by reports that World Boxing Council (WBC) title-holder Leo Santa Cruz’ promoter, Oscar de la Hoya, believes a Rigondeaux-Santa Cruz unification fight has to happen.
The 34-year-old Rigondeaux, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, has been restricted to Asia for his last two fights, subsequently in low-profile matches, due to the lack of desire by any world-class super bantamweight to challenge the Cuban star.
Thankfully, ‘temporarily’ is the operative term here and a year, which started in disappointment, has turned full circle with a series of announcements and upcoming events that have the fans purring and the vehicle moving forward once more.
Brandon Rios (33-2-1, 24 KOs) came into last night’s fight against Mike Alvarado (34-4, 23 KOs) with his career essentially on the brink of collapse after losses to Manny Pacquiao, Alvarado and question wins over Richard Abril and Diego Chaves. But with his 3rd round stoppage win over a near-frozen Alvarado, Rios’ career has been rejuvenated, at least temporarily.
Rios’ promoter Bob Arum is so excited about his win last night that he’s talking about the 28-year-old Rios getting nothing but big fights from here on out.