In an upset, late sub Brian “La Bala” Mendoza (21-2, 15 KOs) knocked out former unified world champion Jeison “Banana” Rosario (23-4-1, 17 KOs) in a middleweight bout which served as the Morrell-Yerbossynuly co-feature on Saturday night at The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mendoza dropped Rosario with a body shot in round two and finished him with a right uppercut in round five. Rosario tried to get up but collapsed back to the canvas. Time was :35.
Unbeaten middleweight Fiodor Czerkaszyn (21-0, 13 KOs) hammered out an impressive ten round unanimous decision over rugged Nathaniel Gallimore (22-6-1, 17 KOs). Scores were 97-93, 99-91, 100-90.
Longtime contender Andre “The Matrix” Dirrell (29-3, 18 KOs) looked good in a tenth round TKO win against aggressive Yunieski Gonzalez (21-4, 17 KOs) in light heavyweight clash. The 39-year-old Dirrell was credited with a knockdown at the end of round nine and got a referee’s stoppage in round ten. Time was 1:30.
Former unified 154lb world champion Julian “J-Rock” Williams (28-3-1, 16 KOs) scored a workmanlike eight round unanimous decision over Rolando Mansilla (18-12-1, 8 KOs) in a middleweight affair. Returning from two straight losses and a 13-month layoff, Williams won by scores of 80-81, 79-72, 79-72. Mansilla was deducted a point in round five for continually losing his mouthpiece.
In a rematch between unbeaten super lightweights, Kent Cruz (16-0-3, 10 KOs) and Enriko Gogokhia (13-0-2, 8 KOs) battled to their second consecutive draw. Scores were 76-76, 76-76, 78-74 for Gogokhia. Their first fight was a split-draw in February.
They can put the trilogy match on the same card as the Easter – Barthelemy rematch! That fight was awful!
JRock got the win, thankfully, I don’t think it goes too well for him going forward at 160 though. He did not impress.
Glad see Rock again. The window short champ! Now or never.
Just saw Czerkasyn handily beat Gallimore. Gallimore had too much heart for his own good. He took a decisive beating but would not quit. On occasion he was able to swing for the fences and land a big overhand right, but Czerkasyn would make him pay by countering with 4,5 bombs of his own. Not sure if a solid win over Gallimore is entre’ into boxing startdom, but he is definitely someone to watch. I looked him up on boxrec and saw he beat Kasim Ouma in 2019. I can’t believe Ouma was still fighting until then. Hope he still isn’t. Ouma was something else back in his day though, in the early 2000’s.
This man has the tools to go far.A complete fighter from what I saw last night.
He may not know what state he’s in, but we saw what state he put Rosario in! What a beautiful uppercut! Great personality as well
Mendoza was in the zone last night, what a great win.this guy is for real!!!