Photos/Report: Boxing Bob Newman

Former WBO light heavyweight world champion Eleider “Storm” Alvarez (25-1, 13 KOs) scored a devastating seventh round knockout over Michael “Cannon Handz” Seals (24-3, 18 KOs) on Saturday night at the Turning Stone Resort Casino in Verona, NY. Alvarez ended a tactical fight with he connected with a massive right hand to put seals down for the count. Time was 3:00.

After the fight Alvarez said, “During training camp, we practiced {the right hand} over and over. My trainer was mad at me at first because I wasn’t doing what he was asking. Finally, we got the knockout…I was out of the ring for 11 months. I wanted to come back as the fighter that beat Kovalev, and this is what we practiced for.”

Lightweight Felix “El Diamante” Verdejo (26-1, 16 KOs) scored a ten round unanimous decision over Manuel Rey Rojas (18-4, 5 KOs), his first bout since linking up with new trainer Ismael Salas. Workmanlike performance with Verdejo outboxing Rojas for the duration. Scores were 99-91, 97-93, 98-92.

“I give myself a ‘C.’” said Verdejo afterward. “I want to keep working hard and keep developing because I want to look like an ‘A’ fighter. I have the desire. I have the hunger. I’m going to keep working hard for all the Puerto Ricans and all the Boricuas.”

In a battle of 2004 Olympians, former USA team captain Devin Vargas took on Puerto Rican representative Victor Bisbal in a scheduled 8 rounder. Both 27-fight veterans are in their 16th years as pros. Little action in the first, with the exception of Bisbal trying to keep his trunks up. The second saw both guy lumbering and slowly slugging, with Bisbal catching an off-balance Vargas, sending him to the canvas for a knockdown. In a wild 4th, both were trading bombs one after the other. The action was only stemmed when referee Michael Ortega took two points from Bisbal, one for low blows and one for pushing Vargas’ head down. The pattern continued through the 7th round. Both guys looked for their shots in the eighth, when Bisbal connected low again on Vargas. Referee Ortega, stopped the bout and disqualified Bisbal for excessive low blows. The time was 1:02. Vargas goes to 22-6, 9 KOs, while Bisbal falls to 24-5, 17 KOs. At the time of the DQ, Vargas was up after 7 rounds, 67-63 twice and 66-64. Had those two points not been deducted, Bisbal would’ve been able to salvage a majority draw had he won the final round.

Albany’s Abraham “Super Nova” Nova, by way of Puerto Rico, took on veteran Mexican Pedro Navarrete in a schedule 8 round lightweight bout. After a “Feel-em out” first round, Nova landed a wicked left to Navarrete’s soft middle, dropping for a 9 count. A chopping right behind the ear dropped Navarrete again in the third, though he appealed to the ref that the blow landed in the back of the head, to no avail. It was all academic as Nova ended matters with a flurry of headshots, dropping Navarrete again in the 4th, referee Danny Schiavone waving it off at :35 of the round. Nova moves to 18-0, 14 KOs, while Navarrete sinks to 30-25-3, 19 KOs.

Former IBF Super Bantamweight champion Jonathan Guzman, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, took on Mexico City’s Rodolfo Hernandez in a scheduled 8 round bout. Guzman wasted no time in taking it to the lanky body of Hernandez, dropping him twice with sustained, powerful bombs to the midsection. Hernandez lasted the round, then stunned everyone with a perfectly timed right hand to the temple in round two, dropping Guzman badly with ten seconds to go. Guzman survived, if barely. Hernandez saw his opportunity and went for it in the third. Both men took it to the center of the ring, when Guzman went with what got him there, a hard right to the body, dropping Hernandez for the count at 1:22 of round 3. Now 24-1, 23 KOs, Guzman looks to get back into the title picture. Hernandez falls to 30-10-1, 28 KOs.

In his first fight back since losing to current WBO featherweight champ Shakur Stevenson, Christopher Diaz took on Brazil’s Adeilson dos Santos in a scheduled 8 round featherweight bout. Both former world title challengers took a tactical approach, with dos Santos switching back and forth from orthodox to southpaw, while Diaz pressed forward, with precise, harder shots, to dos Santos’ constant back-peddling jab. A hard right shook dos Santos in the fourth, but Diaz couldn’t capitalize. In fact, whenever it appeared Diaz had his foe ready for the taking on the ropes, dos Santos would skillfully fought his way out of trouble, or deftly maneuver off the ropes. Things would continue that way until the bell ending the eighth and final round. Judges Don Ackerman, Glenn Feldman and John McKaie all saw it 80-72 for Diaz, who moves to 25-2, 16 KOs, while dos Santos falls to 19-8, 15 KOs.

In the opening bout of Top Rank’s show from Verona, New York’s Turning Stone Resort & Casino, Jared “Big Baby” Anderson, 235 lbs. of Toledo, OH made quick work of Parkersburg, WV resident Andrew Satterfield, 239.5 lbs. Anderson worked behind a steady jab mixed with body shots. Satterfield went down twice from a sustained attack, with referee Charlie Fitch stopping it at 2:30 of the opening stanza. Anderson is now 3-0, 3 KOs, while Satterfield falls to 5-4, 3 KOs.

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