By Boxing Bob Newman at ringside
In an eliminator for the IBF’s #2 position at 140 pounds, #4 rated Ivan Baranchyk (17-0, 11 KOs) walked through late sub and former world title challenger and #10 rated Petr Petrov (38-6-2, 18 KOs) on Friday night at the Deadwood Mountain Grand in Deadwood, South Dakota. Baranchyk dropped Petrov immediately in round one and had him on the deck again (not officially) in round three. Another knockdown in round six. The one-sided bout was finally stopped by referee Marc Nelson in round eight. Time was 1:12.
Undefeated heavyweight Junior Fa (14-0, 8 KOs) of Papakura, New Zealand, scored an eight round majority decision over Craig Lewis (14-2-1, 8 KOs), of Detroit, Michigan. Two very tired fighters at the end. Scores were 76-76, 78-74, 79-73.
Super featherweight Matt Remillard, unbeaten heavyweight Trey Lippe Morrison and 2016 US Olympian junior middleweight Charles Conwell were also victorious.
Harford, CT son Matt Remillard looked to resume his winning ways against Huatabampo, Mexico’s Jesus Valdez in a battle for the vacant USNBC super featherweight belt. Remillard for the most part, lived up to his moniker of “Sharp Shooter,” firing pinpoint jabs and combos to body and head of Valdez. For the most part because Valdez was able to entice Remillard at other times into clinches, nullifying any advantage Matt had built. In the second, a vicious clash of heads caused simultaneous cuts- one on Remillard’s right scalp, the other a vertical gash between Valdez’ eyes. At the start of the sixth, Remillard attacked Valdez to the body and the Mexican visibly wilted, looking ready to fall. Miraculously, Valdez turned the tables in the second half of the round, stunning Remillard to the ropes with combos to body and head. The best round of the fight brought the crowd to its feet. After a pedestrian seventh, another clash of head in the eighth worsened Valdez’ cut to the point where blood was literally pouring out all over the ring. Referee Ian John Lewis called time to have the ring physician examine the wound. Inexplicably, the bout was allowed to continue. Even Valdez seemed to want out and appeared reluctant to carry on. After a few more seconds of action and several more fluid ounces of blood on the canvas, Lewis called time, took a gander at the carnage and waved off matters himself at 1:58 of the eighth. This is where things got weird. Due to all the cuts being caused by accidental clashes of heads, the bout should’ve gone to the scorecards. But ring announcer Ray Flores was instructed to announce Remillard the winner by TKO. Some questioning by this reporter and intervention by Lewis with the South Dakota commission rectified matters. The outcome was changed to an eight round technical decision via scores of 80-82 twice and 79-73 for Remillard, now winner of the USNBC Super Featherweight title. Remillard goes to 27-1, 15 KOs and Valdez drops to 22-4-1, 11 KOs.
Tulsa Oklahoma’s Trey Lippe Morrison took on Oswaldo Ortega, Ciudad Obregon, Sonora, Mexico in a six round heavyweight scrap. The son of former WBO champ Tommy “The Duke” Morrison had been out of action since December 2016 and the rust showed. It wasn’t enough however to save Ortega from a beating. A hard left jab dropped Ortega to his knees in the second, but he survived the round. A combo to the body and head, followed by another left to the head for good measure as Ortega fell, prompted referee Mark Nelson to wave off the count at 1:18 of round three. Morrison improves his gaudy record to 14-0, 14 KOs. Ortega goes to 3-8, 1KO.
In the opening bout of the night, former 2016 US Olympian Charles Conwell went against the more experienced Juan Jesus Rivera of Barranquilla, Colombia in a scheduled six round junior middleweight affair. Things almost ended in the first as Rivera went to the canvas claiming a blow to the back of the head. Referee Ian John Lewis called time and allowed River to either recover or quit. Rivera chose to soldier on. There were enough clinches to prompt Lewis to warn both fighters. Conwell pressed the action throughout, with Rivera offering some resistance in spurts. Rivera went down from a left to the body in the sixth round, but beat the count. The result was a clean 60-53 sweep for Conwell, now 7-0, 5 KOs. Rivera slips to 28-20, 18 KOs.