First round action got underway Friday night in the Jose Sulaiman/WBC World Invitational Welterweight Tournament at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky.
Quarterfinal 4: In an upset, alternate fighter Francisco “Chia” Santana (25-6-1, 12 KOs) surprised 2008 Olympic gold medalist and world title challenger Felix Diaz (19-3, 9 KOs), the #1 seed, taking a ten round majority decision. Santana brought the pressure for most the fight. Diaz spent a lot of time on the ropes. Scores were 95-95, 96-94, 98-92, 98-92, 98-92.
Quarterfinal 3: Chris van Heerden (26-2-1, 12 KOs) outworked Timo Schwarzkopf (18-2, 10 KOs) to win a ten round unanimous decision by scores of 98-92 3x 97-93 2x.
Quarterfinal 2: Fredrick Lawson (27-1, 21 KOs) outpointed Baishanbo Nasiyiwula (13-2-1, 6 KOs) over ten tactical rounds. Scores were 99-91, 96-94, 98-92, 97-93, 97-93.
Quarterfinal 1: Brad Solomon (28-1, 9 KOs) scored a ten round split decision over Paddy Gallagher (13-4, 8 KOs). Gallagher dropped Brad Solomon at the end of round one and pulled out to an early lead. Solomon rallied after open scoring revealed he was down on three of five cards with one even. In the end, scores were 97-93, 97-94 95-94, 95-94 Solomon, 96-93 Gallagher.
The semi-finals are set:
Francisco Santana vs. Brad Solomon
Chris van Heerden vs. Fredrick Lawson
In a clash between tournament alternates, unbeaten Sergey Lubkovich (8-0, 6 KOs) won an ugly ten round majority decision over Karim Mayfield (21-5-1, 11 KOs). Four of the five judges scored it for Lubkovich.
Undercard:
Unbeaten super featherweight Carlos Dixon (3-0, 1 KO) outpointed Aaron Hollis (4-6, 2 KOs) over six. Dixon dropped Hollis in round two.
Unbeaten cruiserweight Joshua Temple “of Doom” (6-0, 5 KOs) blew away Muhammad Abdullah (2-1-1, 1 KO) in round one. Big-punching Temple dropped Abdullah twice.
Unbeaten super featherweight Alycia Baumgardner (5-0, 4 KOs) won by six round split decision over Kirstie Simmons (8-3, 2 KOs). Scores were 59-55, 58-55 Baumgardner, 58-56 Simmons.
Unbeaten super welterweight JaNelson Bocachica (10-0, 7 KOs) scored a first round KO over Pablo Sanchez (10-3, 5 KOs). Sanchez down twice. Time 2:49.
Pro debuting welterweight Trevis Burgos stopped late sub Junior Valdez (3-1, 0 KOs) with 5 seconds remaining in this four-rounder. Valdez was dropped in round two and also had a point taken for losing his mouthpiece. A second knockdown in round four and another point deduction for a mouthpiece infraction preceded a referee’s stoppage.