In a surprise, featherweight Brandon “Leoncito” Benitez (19-2, 7 KOs) spoiled the comeback of former WBA featherweight champion Xu “Monster” Can (18-4, 3 KOs) by taking a ten round split decision on Friday night at the ProBox TV Event Center in Plant City, Florida. In his first bout since losing his world title to Leigh Wood, Can was simply outworked by Benitez. Scores were 96-94, 96-94 for Benitez, 97-93 for Can.
Middleweight Kanat Islam (29-1, 22 KOs) rebounded from his first loss to win an eight round unanimous decision over Javier Maciel (34-17, 23 KOs). The 38-year-old Islam dominated the fight and dropped Maciel with 30 seconds left in the contest. Scores were 80-71 3x.
Unbeaten middleweight prospect Darrelle Valsaint (6-0, 5 KOs) impressively knocked out Paul Mendez (21-4-2, 11 KOs) in round two. Mendez down twice in round two. Time was 2:28.
Unbeaten junior welterweight Cesar “Rainman” Francis (12-0, 7 KOs) brutally knocked out Francisco Armenta (12-2, 4 KOs) with a perfect uppercut at :29 of round two.