In the Stokes Promotions main event at the Jamil Shrine Center in Columbia, South Carolina, local middleweight DeAundre Pettus (5-0, 2 KOs) won a six round unanimous decision over Anthony Hannah (3-2, 2 KOs) of Atlanta.
Pettus (160) came out in round one and controlled the round with the jab and good movement. He did more of the same in the second round. In the third and fourth rounds, he decided to take the fight to Hannah and began landing hard body shots and left hooks to the head. While competitive, Hannah was unable to mount enough offense to keep Pettus off of him. The fifth round saw Pettus slow down as Hannah picked up the pace. It was definitely Hannah’s best round. The sixth round saw both men give it their all with both of them landing hard shots on the inside and out, however Pettus had a little more to give and used great movement to confuse Hannah. In the end, the Pettus won a UD 6. Scores were: 59-55, 59-55, 58-56. With the win, Pettus earned the Universal Boxing Council Atlantic championship.
In the opening bout, Chase Ballard (126) 1-0 of Morganton, WV, the son of former WBF welterweight champion Perry Ballard, made a successful pro debut against Jahterris Lewis 0-5 of Wilson NC with an impressive first round TKO. Ballard came out and landed two good jabs followed by a left hook that stunned Lewis. He followed that up with a right hand that missed Lewis’ chin but landed on his right shoulder and dislocated the shoulder causing the fight to be stopped at 57 seconds of round one.
The second bout featured two guys who both came in 0-1. Brandon Thompson (222) 1-1 got the TKO win over Brandon Barnes (350) 0-2 with a heavy barrage of punches in round one that prompted Kenny Chavalier to call a halt to the bout at 52 seconds of the opening round.
Cole Yarborough (187) improved to 5-1 with a devastating performance. After getting hit twice by Kenneth Burke 0-2 jabs, Yarborough unleashed a vicious right counter that floored Burke. Burke was able to get to his feet at the 6 count, but was immediately caught by another huge right hand that ended the bout at 1:14 of round one.
Cruiserweight Donte’ White of Baltimore, MD, entered the ring 1-0 and left 2-0 with a second round KO of Raquan Ashby 0-5 of Chapel Hill, NC. After a competitive round one, White’s combination of pressure and punching power was too much for Raquan Ashby. Time of the stoppage was 1:35 of round two.
Kevin Kibler (154) of Columbia SC and Polite Swinson (149) Wilson, NC entered the ring with combined record of 0-14. So somebody’s 0 had to go. Kibler overpowered Swinson and stopped him with a body shot at 2:37 of the first round. Kibler imporves to 1-10 and Swinson falls to 0-5.
In an all-action welterweight women’s bout, debuting Angie Franco 1-0 of Wilson NC outworked and stopped previously undefeated Carly Holman of Columbia, SC. In rounds one and two, both ladies gave as good as they got. However, Angie Franco was landing the harder more effective shots and in round three with both women tiring, Franco let everything go and landed 15 or 20 unanswered headshots that prompted veteran referee Kenny Chavalier to step in and stop the bout at 1:32 of the third round. Franco goes to 1-0 and Homan falls to 2-1.
Debuting cruiserweight Devon Young 1-0 of Aiken SC electrified the crowd with a vicious three-punch knockout of fellow debutant Kenneth Thomas 0-1 of Danville VA. Young displayed superb skill and power in his KO at 1:00 of round one.
Javious Jones (130) 7-0 of Aiken SC used his speed and power to overwhelm Juvari Artis en route to a three knockdown first round TKO of overmatched Artis now 0-6-1. Jones said after the fight he is looking to step up and fight bigger fights.
Elijah Seawright 4-0 (132) of Columbia, SC took a round to warm up against Timvonte Carson 0-2 of Aiken, SC. Round one was filled with jabs and movement. However. By the middle of round two, Seawright had figured Carson out and was able to land a three-punch combination that knocked Carson out. The stoppage came at 1:28 of the second round.