By Brad Snyder/The Undercard
Photos: Bob Ryder
Light Heavyweight Taylor Duerr (10-0-2, 7 KOs) continued to rise in boxing rankings by winning the NABF light heavyweight championship with an eight round unanimous decision over Neller Obregon (13-3-1, 8 KOs).
In what has been a very revealing time for Duerr in his career, a film was released about a month ago, he talked about his troubling past. The film showed Duerr overcoming his demons and how boxing has fit into his life. Duerr was very open about his weight cut this week. He hit the scales at just under 175 lbs., but rehydrated back to his impressive 195 during fight night. This inside look of his life was the backdrop before the fights. Already the biggest ticket seller at the event at Soundboard in Motor City Casino Detroit MI, Duerr relies on and feeds off his fans.
Friday night Duerr, again, fed off the fans. Duerr was able to start early on Obregon landing lead lefts and catching him with a left hook to the stomach in the 2nd Round that sent him down. A second knockdown later in the fight by Duerr was not ruled a knockdown. Duerr was, often, pursued by Obregon, during the fight. Obregon was able to catch Duerr with the right and force him to the ropes after. The tough contested matchup went the distance, as all three judges had it in favor of Duerr (77-74, 79-72, 78-73 UD). Throughout the Duerr opening-up process, we learned that he sought out his opponents, playing matchmaker trying to get his last two fights. Once he found his opponent, he approached Promoter Carlos Llinas to get the ball rolling and make it official.
When there are fights at Motor City Casino Soundboard, you can bet that Darryl Cunningham will be on the card. A fixture for sometime at the shows, Cunningham rarely finds himself in situations he has not seen before. Due to a late drop out, Promoter Llinas and matchmaker Kenny Moore had to suggest a former stable mate and friend for Cunningham to fight. The bout originally scheduled at Middleweight was moved to Cruiserweight, as the short notice did not allow his opponent Alexis Hloros (18-9-2, 12 KOs) time to get down to Middleweight. Cunningham and Hloros started slowly but continued to build on the excitement from the crowd. Hloros looked as if he was getting frustrated by Cunningham early. Dropping his guard and looking for big one time haymakers. One wild right did catch Cunningham in the 3rd Round. It appeared he may be in trouble. In the 4th Round, a cut opened up above Hloros’ left eye. This cut and another attack by Cunningham forced Hloros’ corner to throw in the towel. The win moves Cunningham to (43-9, 18 KOs) with a Round 4 2:41 TKO victory.
Middleweight Jacob Bonas improves to (5-0-1, 2 KOs) with his (UD 40-36, 40-36, 40-35) victory over a durable Noah Kidd (4-3-1, 3 KOs). Kidd absorbed some hard rounded shots to the head by Bonas, but the performance was dominated by Bonas.
In a female Jr Welterweight division bout, Anyela Lopez (1-0, 1 KO) wasted no time jumping on hometown Nicole Reinhart (1-1). Lopez was able to throw multiple combinations, which stopped the fight at Round 1 1:04 mark. The TKO victory gave Lopez a good start, as she looks to move further in her boxing career.
Welterweight Kenyell “Boom” Rouser (1-0) started off his pro career looking impressive over Edward Guinn (3-5, 3 KOs). Rouser was able to win by (UD 40-35, 40-35, 40-35) on all the scorecards.
Former professional football player Alex Lewis (1-0, 1 KO) won his Heavyweight debut over Allen Melson (0-3) with a 2nd Round 2:05 TKO.
Jared “Wall Street” Chauvin improves to (2-3) with his Jr Middleweight (UD 40-35, 40-35, 39-36) over Andre Murry (0-2). Chauvin was allowed to pressure Murry and ,also, capitalize on the point reduction of his opponent for holding.
Lightweight debut for Terrance Livingston (1-0) started off the night with a TKO Round 3 1:37 mark victory over Jermon Houck (1-4).
In other action, Crusierweight Derick Miller (2-0, 2 KOs) scored multiple knockdowns and defeated Jesse Walthers (0-1) by TKO at the :51 mark of the 3rd Round.
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