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CLEVELAND (Sept. 3, 2005) – Photos: David Martin-Warr / Don King Productions for SHOWTIME – In a pair of evenly matched, competitive, hard-fought fights, underdogs Guillermo Jones and Ray Austin staved off elimination in their respective weight classes and kept alive their chances for a world title shot by registering upset victories Saturday on SHOWTIME. In a cruiserweight elimination bout, Jones defeated Braithwaite on a controversial fourth-round TKO. Austin upended Beck on a 12-round decision in a heavyweight eliminator.
The bouts at Gund Arena were promoted by Don King Productions and aired at 9 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). Jones (33-3-2, 26 KOs), of Colon, Panama, started quickly and totally controlled the first round. The 6-foot-4 natural welterweight seemed to outpunch Braithwaite 10-1 as he pummeled the former World Boxing Council (WBC) cruiserweight champion with right hands. He was not as dominant in the second and lost the third. Jones, who was coming off a seventh-round TKO over former International Boxing Federation (IBF) cruiser kingpin Kelvin Davis on May 21, withstood an early barrage by Braithwaite in the fourth before recapturing the momentum.. He backed Braithwaite into the ropes and starting unloading more right hands. While some appeared to miss, Braithwaite did not answer back and the referee stepped in and stopped the bout at 2:26. The victory upped the streaking Jones’ record in his last 12 starts to 10-1-1.
Braithwaite (21-2, 17 KOs), of Brooklyn, N.Y., by way of Georgetown, Guyana, suffered his second consecutive devastating defeat on SHOWTIME. In his last outing, the switch-hitting boxer-puncher lost his WBC belt to World Boxing Association (WBA) cruiserweight champion Jean-Marc Mormeck in a world title unification bout on April 2. Braithwaite did not complain after the loss to Mormeck, but he vehemently protested the ref’s actions in this one and challenged Jones to a rematch.
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Austin (23-3-3, 15 KOs), of Cleveland, triumphed by the scores of 117-111, 115-113 and 113-115. The local favorite, a late substitute for Sergei Liakhovich, ran his unbeaten streak to 11 (8-0-3) with the impressive victory. Austin finished strongest, winning the last six rounds on one of the scorecards, the last four on another and the last three on the other. There were no knockdowns but Austin outfought Beck on the outside and inside for the most part. He had the favorite out on his feet in the closing seconds of the 11th.
Beck (24-2, 18 KOs), of Nashville, Tenn. by way of Kingstown, Jamaica, was making his first start since suffering his first defeat to the more experienced Monte Barrett last Feb. 5 on SHOWTIME. Beck fought hard but could never take away the play from the bigger, taller Austin.
SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING’s Steve Albert and Al Bernstein called the action from ringside with Jim Gray serving as roving reporter. The executive producer of the SHOWTIME telecast was Jay Larkin, with David Dinkins producing and Bob Dunphy directing.
An excellent, world-class tripleheader will highlight the next SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING telecast on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 9:15 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). In the heavyweight co-features, Chris Byrd (38-2-1, 20 KOs) will make the fourth defense of his IBF title against DaVarryl “Touch Of Sleep” Williamson (22-3, 18 KOs) and James “Lights Out” Toney (68-4-2, 43 KOs) will make his eagerly awaited return to the ring when he defends his International Boxing Association (IBA) crown against Dominick “The Southern Disaster” Guinn (25-2-1, 18 KOs). In a terrific matchup and second world title fight on the SHOWTIME show from the Reno Events Center in Reno, hard-hitting IBF bantamweight champion Rafael Marquez (34-3, 30 KOs) will defend his belt for the sixth time when he takes on International Boxing Organization (IBO) 118-pound champion/IBF No. 1 contender Silence “African Spice” Mabuza (18-0, 15 KOs).
For information on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING and “ShoBox: The New Generation” telecasts, including complete fighter bios and records, related stories and more, please go the SHOWTIME website at http://www.sho.com/boxing.