By Gary “Digital” Williams at ringside
Photos: Mike Greenhill
Highly-touted undefeated lightweight Devin “The Dream” Haney of Las Vegas, NV ended the main event of the Matchroom Boxing/Devin Haney Promotions card with a crushing seventh-round knockout of Antonio “Tono” Moran of Mexico City. Mexico to regain the WBC International and WBO Intercontinental titles and win the vacant WBA International championship at MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD. The 20-year-old Henry landed great body shots throughout the contest as he knocked down Moran twice in the bout. In round five, saHaney landed a straight right hand to Moran’s body but stepped on Moran’s foot in the process taking Moran down. Referee Kenny Chevalier didn’t see the feet tangle and ruled a knockdown for Haney.
The body shots continued to serve Haney well as in the seventh round, Haney used his straight right body shots to get inside before landing a brutal overhead right to Moran’s head to send Moran crumbling to the canvas. Referee Chevalier immediately halted the bout at 2:32 of the seventh. Haney is now 22-0, 14 KO’s and Moran is 24-4, 17 KO’s.
Zagreb, Croatia heavyweight Filip “El Animal” Hrgovic made short work of Gregory “Bad News” Corbin scoring a TKO at one minute of the first round to defend his WBC International title. Hrgovic landed a short but powerful right hand that dropped Corbin to the canvas. Corbin barely beat referee Brent Bovell’s count but was in no condition to continue. Hrgovic remains undefeated at 8-0, six KO’s. Corbin is now 15-2, nine KO’s.
Heavyweight Michael “The Bounty” Hunter of Las Vegas, NV had no trouble successfully defending his WBA International Heavyweight title with a second-round TKO over an overmatched Fabio Maldonado of Sao Paulo, Brazil. In the second round, Hunter landed a powerful straight right hand that had Maldonado stumbling backwards. Hunter immediately increased the output and had Maldonado looking for places to fall. After two knockdowns, referee Harvey Dock stopped the bout at 1:45 of the second round. Hunter, who is trained by former undisputed world heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman, is now 17-1, 11 KO’s. Maldonado, who was stopped for the first time in his career, falls to 26-3, 25 KO’s.
In the first of four title bouts, Jessica “CasKilla” McCaskill of Chicago, IL has unified the WBC and WBA Female Super Lightweight titles with an exciting 10-round unanimous decision over a very game Anahi “La Indiecita” Sanchez of Buenos Aires, Argentina. McCaskill, who came in as the WBC titleholder and Sanchez, who carried the WBA banner, locked horns from the opening bell traded hard shots throughout the contest. McCaskill bloodied Sanchez’s nose midway through the bout but Sanchez kept coming. McCaskill was able to increase her output in the last two rounds to gain the victory. McCaskill won by scores of 99-91, 98-92 and 96-94. McCaskill is now 7-2, three KO’s. Sanchez falls to 19-4, 11 KO’s.
Undefeated Berezino, Kazakhstan junior middleweight and 2016 Olympian Daniyar Yelussinov captured a six-round unanimous decision win over late sub Luis Normabuena of San Jose, CA by way of Chile. Yelussinov outworked Normabuena throughout the contest, landing heavy right hands to the head and body. Normabuena fought valiantly but could not keep up with Yelussinov’s output. Yelussinov is now 7-0, three KO’s. Normabuena falls to 3-2-1.
Baltimore, MD super middleweight Lorenzo “Truck” Simpson made short work of Tucson, AZ’s Rafael “El Loco” Garcia. Simpson was deadly accurate with his hooks and uppercuts putting Garcia back on heels from the opening bell. A final series of uppercuts forced referee Harvey Dock to stop the contest at 1:19 of the first round. Simpson remains undefeated at 4-0, three KO’s. Garcia is now 9-3, six KO’s.
The opening contest at MGM National Harbor Casino in Oxon Hill, MD set the tone for the rest of the card. Lightweight Luis Gerardo “Palamito” Perez of Puebla, Mexico won a six-round unanimous decision over a very game Mack “Papi” Allison IV of Baltimore, MD. The bout was an absolute slugfest as both men went without jabs and defense and slugged for the entire six rounds. Both men showed grit and toughness but Perez outworked Allison and won the contest by 59-55 scores across the board. Perez’s record rises to 6-2, one KO while Allison’s record falls to 9-3-1, seven KO’s.
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