A handful of boxing prospects in three separate televised cards set out to shine. The result was a very enjoyable evening of boxing. Here’s the breakdown:
Atlantic City, New Jersey (Televised by Showtime)- Welterweight prospect and NABO/NABA champ, Mike Jones (22-0, 18 KOs), displayed a little bit of everything in his KO 5 win over Irving Garcia (17-5-3, 8 KOs). After a slow first round, Jones boxed a little, banged a little and worked well at close range as well as from the outside. Garcia was definitely in the fight until the very end, but lacked the physical strength and/or confidence to follow up his sharp jab with anything stronger.
The end came in the 5th when Jones buzzed Garcia and trapped him against the ropes. It was a low blow that eventually dropped Garcia, but referee Randy Neumann was out of position to see it and counted Garcia out at the 1:22 mark of the 5th. With or without the low blow, Jones seemed within seconds of closing the show anyway.
On the ShoBox undercard, well-regarded Welterweight prospect, Antwone Smith (18-2-1, 10 KOs) was upset by veteran, Lanardo Tyner (24-3, 15 KOs). The fight was extremely close from the very beginning with some very nice inside work from both fighters. Smith, especially, was landing some brutal body shots with the idea of sapping the strength of the 35-year old Tyner. However, Tyner never seemed to slow down and continued applying pressure to Smith, who was dealing with a severly swollen left eye and, reportedly, a case of the flu. Tyner battered Smith to his knees in the ninth. Smith barely beat the count, but before resuming action, the ref waved off the bout.
Lincoln, Rhode Island (Televised by ESPN 2, Friday Night Fights)- In a hotly anticipated regional battle of young, Lightweight prospects, John Molina (21-1, 17 KOs) stopped Hank Lundy (18-1-1, 10 KOs) in the 11th round of their encounter to capture Lundy’s NABO strap. Lundy was cocky and sharp as he clearly outboxed Molina through the first 7 rounds of the bout before being dropped by a big counter right hand in the 8th. Although Lundy recovered nicely, it was clear that Molina smelled blood and was inching closer and closer to landing another big shot. The opportunity came in the 11th as Lundy had his back against the ropes. A big shot from Molina sent part of Lundy’s torso through the top two ropes. Lundy’s response was to grab at the top rope and showboat, but Molina landed some big shots in those moments. A bit buzzed and tired, Lundy, seconds later, found himself back up against the ropes and having to withstand some big punches.
The fight was waved off in that same round although many felt that the stoppage was very premature.
On the undercard, Vladine Biosse (7-0, 4 KOs) scored a unanimous 8-round decision over tough “Irish” Joe McCreedy (11-5-2, 6 KOs) in a very entertaining action fight. Scores were: 79-73, 79-73, 78-74.
Denver, Colorado (Televised on Telefutura)– Cuban Jr. Middleweight prospect, Erislandy Lara (12-0, 7 KOs), destroyed the obscenely over-matched, William Correa (8-4, 8 KOs) in 2:34 of the first round. Correa was down twice before the bout was waved off. Total slaughter.
On the undercard, Featherweight, Derrick Wilson (7-1-2, 2 KOs) continued being the scourge of hometown favorites by beating Denver’s previously undefeated, Ricky Lopez (7-1, 2 KOs) via majority 6-round decision. Wilson dropped Lopez twice in the first and controlled the contest for most of the bout. Judges scores had it 56-56, 57-55 and 58-54. The Boxing Tribune also had it scored 58-54 in favor of Wilson.
Last July, Wilson beat another undefeated hometown prospect when he KOd Charles Huerta of Los Angeles in the first round.
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