2016 Olympic gold medalist Robson Conceição (17-1, 8 KOs) spoiled the Top Rank debut of previously unbeaten Xavier Martinez (17-1, 11 KOs) by winning a one-sided ten round unanimous decision in a WBC super featherweight eliminator on Saturday night at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Slight underdog Conceição, coming off a controversial loss to WBC champion Oscar Valdez, outboxed and outworked Martinez en route to a 99-91, 100-90, 98-92 victory.
Unbeaten junior welterweight Giovanni Cabrera (19-0, 7 KOs) returned from a 27-month layoff to win an eight round unanimous decision over Rene Tellez Giron (16-2, 10 KOs). Scores were 77-75, 78-74, 78-74.
U.S. Olympian welterweight Tiger Johnson (2-0, 1 KO) won a four round unanimous decision over Xavier Madrid (3-1, 1 KO). Scores were 40-36 3x.
Unbeaten heavyweight Stephan “Big Shot” Shaw (16-0, 12 KOs) stopped Joey “Tank” Dawejko (21-10-4, 12 KOs) in round eight. Dawejko’s corner stopped the fight. Time was 1:04. Dawejko not happy about the stoppage.
Female junior lightweight Carla Torres (7-6, 0 KOs) outworked Pink Tyson (11-3, 2 KOs) over eight rounds and got a majority decision. Scores were all over the place: 76-76, 80-72, 77-75.
Featherweight prospect Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington (2-0, 1 KO) scored a second round KO over Steven Brown (1-1, 1 KO). Carrington laid out Brown with series of left hands. Time was :43.
Heavyweight Jeremiah Milton (4-0, 4 KOs) blew away 287lb Dell Long (7-10-2, 4 KOs) in just 97 seconds. Long down twice.
Middleweight Nico Ali Walsh (4-0, 3 KOs), grandson of “The Greatest,” stopped Jeremiah Yeager (1-2-1, 1 KO) in round two. Walsh dropped Yeager with a left hook, then finished him moments later. Time was 2:39.
Unbeaten featherweight prospect Haven Brady Jr. (5-0, 3 KOs) swept past Diuhl Olguin (15-21-5, 10 KOs) 60-54 3x.
Pro debuting light heavyweight Dante “Free Smoke” Benjamin scored a first round KO over Emany Rendon (2-1, 0 KOs). Rendon down twice. Time was 2:05.
Getting tired of the narrative surrounding Ali-Walsh. His big mouth mom, his dad, Stephen Spielberg, LMAO. He got tuned up in his last fight but, of course, he gets the nod. Tim Bradley is starting to get on my nerves as well. Sorry to vent guys, it’s just getting to be to much.
haha Stephen Spielberg, good one
Main event was a good example of a fight that was competitive but not close. Conceicao is just better than Martinez.
Martinez never looked like a winner in this one. He rarely ever initiated the action and kept his hands home while Conceicao was punching. He was eventually reduced to winging lead lefts and rights against an always moving Conceicao. Whenever they got close, Martinez was strangely inactive and allowed the clinches without attempting to step back and punch.
Conceicao was his usual active self and kept moving and punching while Martinez plodded after him without throwing anything meaningful. He got buzzed before the bell in the 3rd round but Martinez inexplicably didn’t go after him aggressively in the next round. This time, Conceicao kept up the effort for the entire 10 founds and didn’t tire out like he did against Valdez.
Conceicao is a handful against anyone in the 130 lb division. He can conceivably win a title if he ever gets another opportunity to fight for one. He let a golden opportunity pass him by against Valdez.
Martinez is a good fighter, but he has to find a mean streak in the ring. For a mean streak search, maybe they should send Martinez to train in “deep” L.A. or Culiacan (disregard Chavez, Jr.).
Conceicaio simply had a better mean streak than Martinez.
Yeah Conceicao really showed that he has the capability to be a decent ring general in the top tier of the division. He stepped up his game. The dominating analyst talk of that fight was Martinez not pressing the issue. Hopefully he reaches the potential people see in him going forward.
I thought Nico provided a good performance vs the last fight. Of course part of what I assume are decent or great purses (like olympic amateur greats newly signed to big promoters) are the expectation that he be put in front of the microphone much more than your run of the mill prospect. It will be tiring to hear the repetitive questions about family. At least this time ESPN made a new spin and focused on Laila. But that’s what we will get as they try to get more casual fans to watch under the guise of “the legend lives on…” At least Nico is doing what he can to take the fight game seriously in terms of training and respecting his opponents (something that was rare in the latter for his gramps) Always good to see the other prospects as well. And in the ladies fight Carlo Torres showed a lot of skill. I only saw her record with 0 KO’s and had not viewed her boxrec. MUCH better than her record indicated.
Her record is no good, but Torres’ definitely been in with some really good fighters. Serrano, McCaskill, Ronica Jeffrey (still the only person to beat Jeffrey) and Irina Torres in her last fight, she fought for a couple of world titles. Carla Torres has learned how to fight in with that type of competition.
Olympian Tiger Johnson looks promising; ditto Dante Benjamin. Top Rank usually does a good job building their prospects.