PBC’s massive card on Fox Sports 1 is in the books. For the most part the favorites cruised as expected, but that doesn’t mean nothing interesting happened along the way.
There are a lot of fights to go over on this one, so I’ll keep them quick individually. In the main event, Jamal James (24-1, 12 KOs) finished Mexican journeyman Mahonry Montes (35-8-1, 24 KOs) on a body shot in the second round. Montes put the pressure on for the short duration of the contest, but he never really could have been expected to be competitive here. It was an upstairs, downstairs straight left combination that sealed it. James has showed some nice power downstairs in recent fights. Some guys just hit harder to the waist. With the win Jamal is probably in line for a bigger fight. The PBC roster is littered with aging welterweights to give him a step up against the likes someone along the lines of Andre Berto, Devon Alexander, Josesito Lopez, or Luis Collazo.
Middleweight contender Willie Monroe (23-3, 6 KOs) picked up his second win following his title shot loss to Billy Joe Saunders. Javier Maciel (33-7, 23 KOs) of Argentina was completely out matched on his way to a shutout loss. Willie is a really good boxer, but he isn’t exciting and this fight was no exception. There isn’t really anything to get into about it. I’m not saying this was an all time snoozer or anything like that, but the main two fights on this card didn’t look great on paper and didn’t deliver any differently in the ring.
Jeison Rosario (16-1-1, 11 KOs) opened the original main card with a surprisingly dominant beating over Jamontay Clark (13-1-1, 7 KOs). I thought the two young fighters were more or less on the same level, but apparently not. Rosario controlled this one from start to finish. The highlight of the fight and arguably the card was Jeison not only dropping Jamontay in the third, but sending him sprawling of the ring onto his back on the floor. Clark beat the 20 count that is issued in these situations with ease, but he probably shouldn’t have bothered. The rest of the fight was one sided with him taking the punishment. Rounds seven, eight, and nine all brought moments where I thought a stoppage might be imminent, but it never came.
For me I was most interesting in seeing how 24 year old Olympic gold medalist Eimantas Stanionis (7-0, 5 KOs) would fare in a big step up against fringe contender Levan Ghvamichava (18-4-1, 13 KOs). He dominated. The fight was a little samey at times to watch, but it was a thoroughly impressive performance regardless. Stanionis largely used the same mixture of forward foot pressure, stiff jabs, and body work to win each round of the fight basically in the same manner. Ghvamichava was never in close danger of a stoppage and fought back the whole way, but his little moments of success would quickly be snuffed out by the Lithuanians superior return fire. Eimantas won at least seven if not all eight of the rounds and got the appropriate scorecards in response.
I’m sure you’ve seen this one already as it has gone viral. Highly touted heavyweight prospect Efe Ajagba (6-0, 5 KOs) looked to showcase his skills on national television, but Curtis Harper (13-6, 9 KOs) loudly and clearly objected to that idea. Looking every bit like a normal fighter in a normal mental state through the ring walk, introductions, and stare downs, Harper promptly exited the ring and walked away right after the opening bell. It was one of the most surreal moments I have ever seen in the fight game. Reportedly Harper is claiming that this move was a protest of his low pay. As far as I see it, no one is likely to ever pay him again though so I’m not sure that will have been a good move in hindsight. Ajagba got a DQ win out of it and a hell of a story to hype him in the future. “This is the guy who an experienced opponent literally ran out of the ring away from in terror…”
I will cover the “prelim” broadcast on UTR this week as I missed it live.
