Leal defeats Marroquin, Zbikowski destroys Warner

By Jim Dower: In something of an upset, previously unbeaten and highly hyped 21-year-old featherweight prospect Roberto Marroquin (19-1, 14 KOs) was beaten in a huge upset by journeyman Frankie Leal (16-5-3, 9 KOs) by a 10 round split decision loss at WinStar Casino, Thackerville, Oklahoma. The final judges’ scores were 99-92, 96-94 for Leal, 97-93 Marroquin. Leal came into the fight not having won a fight in the past two years. However, he changed his lucky by taking the fight to Marroquin, shutting his left left eye and cutting him.

It was still a very close fight with Leal appearing to win by at least two rounds, but Marroquin simply didn’t do enough to get the win. He seemed surprised by the aggression and the pressure that Leal was putting on him. This outcome may reflect the soft C level opposition that has been fed to Marroquin since he turned pro in 2008. It was too much of a jump for him when he was suddenly put in with the B class Leal and he got exposed.

In other action on the card, unbeaten cruiserweight prospect Tommy Zbikowski (4-0, 3 KOs) stopped Blake Warner (1-3, 1 KO’s) by a 1st round TKO. Zbikowsk, who plays for the NFL, knocked Warner down with a big right uppercut. The fight was over at 2:20 of the 1st round. Zbikowski hurt the hefty looking Warner earlier in the round with a big right uppercut. Zbikowski then followed with six left hooks to the midsection followed by a right to the head. Warner motioned him forward for more, and Zbikowski continued to pour it on with rights and lefts until halting Warner with a right uppercut. It was a good performance from Zbikowski, who can really punch. The question about him is whether he can take punishment. He rarely gets hit because of how soft his opposition has been. Also, Zbikowski’s stamina is questionable. He looked exhausted in his last fight against Caleb Grummet after only two rounds of action.

Undefeated middleweight contender and former Olympian Matt Korobov (15-0, 9 KOs) defeated Marcos Primera (20-24-2, 13 KOs) defeated journeyman Marcos Primera (20-24-2, 13 KOs) by a six round unanimous decision.

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