Three heavyweight fights took place on last night's "Broadway Boxing" card organized by Lou Di Bella promotions. All three went the scheduled distance, though none of the fights were close. Belgian prospect Michael Pirotton improved to 7-0, 3 KOs, defeating Canada’s Sukhchann Sahota (2-1, 1 KO) by unanimous decision. Scores were 60-54, 60-54, and 59-55 for Pirotton. I don't know much about either fighter except to suggest that Pirotton must have some sort of tie-in with Lou Di Bella to have ventured so far from home. Fernely Feliz Jr. improved to 4-0 (3 KOs) by dominating the overweight and overmatched Cameron Graham (2-2, 2 KOs) - with scores of 40-35 x3. Feliz Jr knocked down his corpulent opponent late in the 4th and final round, but Graham survived to see the final bell. Graham had already been stopped once - by an MMA fighter-turned boxer, no less - so it's not a compelling result for Feliz Jr. Stephan Shaw (18-0, 13 KOs) used aging gatekeeper Rydell Booker (26-7-1) as a punching bag for 8 rounds, earning him a sweep of the cards (80-72 x3). But Shaw couldn't finish Booker and the latter didn't even appear to be hurt until near the end of the 7th round where Shaw busted open Rydell's nose. This tends to give credence to the opinion that Shaw lacks some power and that this could be a factor eventually, as his opposition improves. I have read on the "nyfights" site that Di Bella intends to match Shaw with Italian prospect Guideo Vianello next and that that bout should take place early in 2023. This is not great news for Shaw, as Vianello poses at least some risk and isn't a well-recognized name outside of European boxing circles. And that recognition isn't all positive, as many began to doubt Vianello's potential after his lackluster (and perhaps lucky?) draw against Kingsley Ibbeh a couple years ago. Even if Shaw wins - it won't move the needle much in his favor.
Ps. I watched his Olympics fights and some others. Would like to have seen him against Jalolov or Huni if he had gone to Tokyo.
Interesting. Zhang is a big risk (for at least the front half of that fight) - but it seems this could be hugely lucrative, gate-wise, and fastrack him to another title shot.
Just a follow up re Danier Pero's pending pro debut ... at somewhere called Outlaw Saloon in Cheyenne. 23 years old - 6.5 + long reach I think. Amateur record below: https://boxrec.com/en/box-am/863085 Has wins over Vykhryst, Larduet and Torrez Jr.
Fabio Wardley moved to 15-0 by notching his 14th stoppage victory over Nathan Gorman (now 19-2) on the undercard of the Whyte v. Franklin bout. Gorman outboxed Wardley with relative ease in the first round. He then gave a warning that his reputation as a featherfirst may not be fully-justified by hurting Wardley at the start of the 2nd round, possibly breaking Wardley's nose as he did so. Wardley, however, responded by landing huge right hands on Gorman that sent him tumbling to the canvas not once, but twice before the 2nd round ended. Wardley then ended the contest in the 3rd round when Groman was knocked down. While Gorman beat the count - his corner through in the towel immediately afterwards. IMO - the replay of the third knockdown did not clearly indicate that Wardley's right hand struck Gorman. Seemed a bit fishy, but others might disagree.
I did not watch the fight, so no dog in this fight, but a lot of people are talking about it all over the internet, and someone mentioned that Gorman kept looking back to his corner. I don't know.
Jermaine Franklin proved me wrong. He clearly came to fight tonight against Dillian Whyte in their 12 round contest. While not quite a FOTY candidate, their bout nonetheless proved entertaining. Whyte ultimately prevailed by MD with 116-112 x2 and 115-115 being the scores. I think the former better reflected the fight, but that should not detract from Franklin's performance - which was far better than expected given his three years of inactivity and piror less-than convincing performances vs. gatekeepers Rydell Booker and Jerry Forrest. Franklin arrived about 20-25 lbs overweight - but seemed otherwise well prepared. Neither fighter was able to put together a truly dominant round against the other - with Whyte's 4th round and Franklin's 9th round being the possible exceptions. Whyte failed to land any truly big shots on Franklin until he landed a big left hook on Franklin near the end of the 10th round (which Franklin absorbed) and in the final seconds of the fight he landed a huge shot that sent Franklin tumbling back into the ropes as the bell sounded. In truth, Whyte did land more heavy shots but Franklin took them well while firing off some very crisp-looking combinations and occasionally landing some heavy work of his own. Whyte did manage to swing the fight his way over the final three rounds, imo, but even then Franklin had his moments. You can't help but wonder how this fight might have played out had Franklin dropped that extra weight! A non-dominant win for Whyte, surely, but it looks like he's a good candidate to be fighting Joshua soon. Even if AJ is past his best, Whyte will need to bring a bit more early-round intensity to that fight than he was mustering tonight. As for Franklin, he's done himself no harm at all and has established himself as a fringe contender who should see some good fights in the future.