By Brad Snyder-The Undercard
Photos by Bob Ryder

Carlos Llinas and Motor City Casino and Hotel at the Soundboard celebrated their 20th Night of Knockouts Friday night. The night provided some pro debuts, some fan favorites, and some prospects ready to level up in the future.

The only non-four-Rounder on the card was a six round heavyweight battle. Derek Miller improved to (7-0, 5 KOs) with a third round knockout. His opponent Dennis Vance (1-3, 1 KO) started strong by actually moving forward. Most of Vance’s punches were power punches that could not connect. Sadly, a board broke under the ring causing a 10-minute delay in the first Round. When action commenced, Miller seemed to control the fight more, scoring a knockdown with a body shot in the second. Vance, already hurt from the first body shot, succumbed to another in round three. This led Referee Steve Daher to wave off the fight at :34.

Dwane Taylor continues to be a fan favorite at the Soundboard needing only 34 seconds to stop Derek Reyes (0-1). In the Welterweight bout, Taylor, who improved to (3-0, 3 KOs), scored 3 knockdowns, with the third being the most devastating.

Sam Rizzo (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a 1st Round KO at the 2:37 mark over Jr. Welterweight Reginald Rayford (0-1).

Empire Boxing’s Nicole Reinhart (3-2, 2 KOs) looked much improved over her previous opponent in the rematch against Jr. Welterweight Gabrielle Hayes (1-1). The 3rd Round produced a flurry of punches that Reinhart threw, making Hall of Fame referee Frank Garza to immediately have to step in and defend Hayes, who had completely turned her back to her opponent. The victory showed off impressive adjustments in the rematch by Reinhart and her trainer Coach Glove.

Easily the Fight of the Night Award goes to Matthew Rodriguez (3-0, 2 KOs) vs Dario Guerrero (0-1). The Middleweight bout had Rodriguez score a 1st Round knockdown with a short left to Guerrero’s chin. The knockdown did not produce enough damage, as both fighters took it to each other over the next three rounds. All three judges had the fight for Rodriguez (38-37, 38-37, 39-36) in the card’s only decision.

The night started off with two fights that ended with fighters not able to continue in between rounds. The second bout of the night, in the Heavyweight division had Michael Shipp (1-5, 1 KO) scoring a 1st Round knockdown of Henry Wright (1-5, 1 KO). Then Wright dropped Shipp in the 2nd. Between Rounds 2 and 3, Shipp could not continue, giving the TKO victory to Wright.

The first bout had Clayton Crosslan (0-3) possibly breaking his hand against Michael Futrell-Cruz (1-0 1 KO). Futrell-Cruz looked good in the 1st, but Crosslan could not answer the bell for the 2nd Round, as bruising and swelling already began to show in his right hand. Thus giving the TKO victory to Futrell-Cruz.

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