On the first televised U.S. card of 2020, unbeaten WBO #13, IBF #15 welterweight Jaron “Boots” Ennis (25-0, 23 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over Bakhtiyar Eyubov (14-2-1, 12 KOs) on Friday night at the Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City, NJ.
It looked like it would be an early night when Ennis dropped Eyubov twice in round one. Eyubov began doing some damage in round two, although Ennis still dominated. The bout was eventually stopped in round four on the order of Commissioner Larry Hazzard, even though the very tough Eyubov was still game and in no way ready to quit. Time was :34.
Undisputed women’s middleweight champion Claressa Shields (10-0, 2 KOs) scored a one-sided ten round unanimous decision over former welterweight champion Ivana Habazin (20-4, 7 KOs) in a bout for the vacant WBC and WBO 154-pound world titles.
Shields was stronger and faster, beating on Habazin like a drum. Shields scored her first career knockdown when Habazin took a knee in round six. Scores were 99-89, 100-90, 100-89. Shields has now won world titles in three divisions.
In a women’s super middleweight unification, IBF champion Erin Cederroos (8-0, 4 KOs) won a close ten round unanimous decision over WBA champion Alicia Napoleon-Espinosa (12-2, 7 KOs).
The much taller Cederroos dropped Napoleon-Espinosa with a left hook in round two and that was the margin of victory. Scores were 95-94 3x.
Heavyweight Apti Davtaev (19-0-1, 18 KOs) scored a third round TKO over Keith Barr (20-13-1, 8 KOs).
Shields SUCKS! Another typical boring performance from the feather fisted loud mouth.
why is miss shields a loud mouth?
Yup, Shields fight was a joke……Nobody really “tough” she can face to equalize her crappy/cocky attitude that is a farce.
Ennis is the one to keep an eye on. He could be a major talent.
It’s pathetic man. The skill level of that opposition was like mid-level amateur at best, and Shields couldn’t even take her out!!! Nothing to warrant her attitude. She has glaring flaws, not much of a defense, just fast hands and shit opposition.
why are you such a negative nancy?
I was under the impression that only a corner, ref or doctor can stop a bout. Hazzard stopped the Ennis bout. Is it in the rules that a Commissioner that stop a bout or not? If the appointed ref is too incompetent to know when to stop a fight, why was he assigned?
It is embarrassing to the ref when a higher authority has to come in to call a halt to the bout. They try to give the ref the discretion most times.
What exactly were the refs for? The Ennis ref allowed fouling without any warning and Sparkle Lee didn’t even warn Shields for hitting her opponent while she was down, props to Habazin for not pulling a Montell Griffin, I doubt any disquilification would have been called if she did. How do you score a fight with a recorded knock down 100-90? Shields looks exceptional shadow boxing, hitting the heavy bag and working the mits, but in the ring I am still seeing wrist punches, wild misses and grizzly swipes. 2 time olympian and fastest to Champion 3 weight divisions, no one can deny that, but GOAT……………. the Wolfe would have devoured the goat.
She is just lucky Braekhus isn’t in his weight categorie because she would learn a lesson by a real p4p n°1 fighter in women’s boxing. Braekhus has all the tools : skills, speed, power, cardio and elegance in the ring..
And please stop with the ” I can beat Keith Thurmund and GGG”…….. Hanna Gabriels put you on your ass with a right upper cut and left hook. Just ask IBHOF fighter Lucia Rijker what happened when she got the bright idea of challenging a professional kick boxer when she was a kick boxing champion………….. she got KTFO just like CS would.
Shields really looked like a professional boxer tonight. Many of the women fighters just don’t look like polished pros. Sleek, good technique and made great use of her jab. I’m not sure why she didn’t throw the left hook to the body much. Her body shots were mostly right hands. She might have taken out the opponent with more varied body shots. Great performance and still improving.
As for Ennis, the fight was one-sided and was rightfully stopped. The opponent was absorbing a lot of heavy shots. Ennis looks like the real deal.
The opening bout was not as close as the scorecards showed. The much taller Cederroos dominated Napoleon-Espinosa and fought her from a distance. In my opinion, she won by at least 3 rounds. As it was, the knockdown was the difference in the fight. Napoleon-Espinosa just had a hard time getting in close and took too many clean shots while trying to get into punching range.
It’s one of the rare occasion i disagree with you; she looked like an amateur. The best women in boxing today and since 10 years is Cecilia Braekhus; the only women who has men’s boxing skills..
Opening bout was quite good, unlike most women’s boxing. Terrible scoring by the three women judges-was this their first attempt at scoring fights? Agree that Cederroos won rather convincingly, not by one point.
I eat my words tought it would be closer than that..
I speak from the fight between Ennis and Eyubov; i don’t give a shit about Schields..
She will never face serious competition. The likes of Rijker, Ann Wolf, Ali or Christy Martin would make her look ordinary.
Lucia MIGHT @ 154, Martin is probably to small and slow but wouldn’t fold under pressure. Wolfe’s size strength and toughness gets her the win, and Laila, I’m not sure. I tend to think he size and speed gives her the edge over Shields.
Just not impressed with Shields. She can win against this type of opponent but it is not an exhibition of good boxing. If Shields wants to get knockouts or consistently land punches with impact, she will have to learn how to leverage her body weight. What are her coaches telling her?
The greatest woman of all time? Three division world champ? Three two minute rounds against a nobody and she made history? First time she EVER scored a knockdown? Sorry, I don’t see it…
I have to admit I enjoyed the opening bout. However, it was an absolute microcosm of everything that’s wrong with women’s boxing. Two title holders and it still looked more like a tough man competition. No questioning their heart or desire, but to suggest they looked like rank amateurs would be taking something away from the amateurs.
Boots looked very good against the perfect step up opponent, but I’d like to see him take fewer shots. Despite the appearance his opponent lacked the power to actually hurt him, every punch does damage in the long run. This sport is dangerous and brain cells don’t regenerate.
Shields….another easy win with no knockout. It’s easy to hate her, because of the rhetoric she spews, but I choose to believe she’s continuing to try to sell tickets. She is a fighter without a great opponent available through no fault of her own. If she was allowed to fight 3 minute rounds, then I believe she’d be stopping these opponents. Maybe she’ll move up to 168 and fight Cederroos. I think she’d win that easy too. To the haters, who do you want her to fight?
Scott, Cederroos acknowledged after her bout that she is new to boxing and totally inexperienced to box Shields who had 75+ amateur bouts. It is unfortunate that womens’ boxing has a very tiny talent pool. Shields’ last opponent was game but I have seen many Golden Glovers with more talent.
Bruce, I saw the interview, but money talks and nobody else will give her the payday that Shields would. Cederroos is a large woman with a little power. Ultimately, there just isn’t much out there.
This is not a ‘world’ title fight unless you are number one versus number one after a long period of success during a contention climb and or the sanctioning body organization demonstrates public and legal documents of consistent honest box-offs between legitimate top contenders [ in each weight division ] throughout their company history. People are so easily manipulated with acronym belts and
[ the ] collecting thereof.
Ms. Shields has not publicly began a campaign to vie for three-minute rounds [ duration for women professional boxing competition ]. Yet she always compares her accolades amongst men. Why isn’t Ms. Shields vying for 15Rounds and or for women’s three-minute round duration (?). This is how one can discern a legacy hijack. For one’s legacy to appear similar to a legitimate legacy, but is not. Coach Hilario Copyright 2019 Brockton MA USA
This women’s boxing is truly amateur hour stuff. The broadcasters ate embarrassingly “woke”. They scream platitudes that have nothing to do with the low talent show in the ring.
Ennis is the real deal. The third son that teacher trainer “Bozy” Ennis has trained is turning out to be the best. He beat on a tough opponent to the point the commissioner advised the referee before the start of the final round not to allow him to take more punishment and stop it if he does. Ennis is the best Philly boxer since 1984 Meldrick Taylor’s Gold Medal win in the Olympics.
Didn’t realize how good Ennis is. Though his opponent provided target practice. His seconds did a merciful stoppage.