WBO #5, WBC #11 super lightweight Arnold Barboza Jr. (23-0, 10 KOs) knocked out William Silva (27-3, 15 KOs) in the fifth round. Barboza dropped Silva in round three and finished him with a brutal body shot in round five. Time was 2:59. Barboza retains his NABF “junior” 140lb belt.
17-year-old welterweight Xander Zayas (2-0, 2 KOs) impressively scored his second straight first round KO, taking out Virgel Windfield (2-3-1, 2 KOs) in 1:48. Zayas dropped Windfield twice.
In a good action fight, welterweight Larry Gomez (10-1, 8 KOs) won an eight round split decision over previously unbeaten Brian “La Bala” Mendoza (18-1, 13 KOs). Scores were 77-75 Mendoza, 77-75, 77-75 Gomez.
Unbeaten 2016 Olympian heavyweight Guido “The Gladiator” Vianello (6-0, 6 KOs) needed just 44 seconds to demolish Colby Madison (8-2-2, 5 KOs). A crushing Vianello right hand put Madison down for the count.
Unbeaten super lightweight Andy Hiraoka (15-0, 10 KOs), a stablemate of pound-for-pound sensation Naoya Inoue, made his American debut with a second round TKO over Rogelio Casarez (13-9, 5 KOs). Hiraoka dropped Casarez in round two and got a referee’s stoppage with his follow-up barrage.
Vianello, a former sparring partner of Tyson Fury, has improved leaps and bounds since his amateur days but he still has a long way to go. He’s a charismatic/nice guy with power but I hope he will be brought along carefully. If he gets to fight any top 30 heavyweight too soon, he will get knocked out brutally and it could be very detrimental to his career.