By Jeff Aranow: Former heavyweight title challenger Dominic Breazeale (18-1, 16 KOs) stopped the previously unbeaten Izuagbe Ugonoh (17-1, 14 KOs) by a 5th round knockout on Saturday night on Premier Boxing Champions on Fox at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
Breazeale, 31, had to get off the canvas in round 4 to come back and score the knockout in the 5th. Breazeale dropped the exhausted 30-year-old Ugonoh through the ropes in round 5. The referee Jeff Dodson then stopped the contest. Moments before that, Breazeale had knocked Ugonoh with a right hand to the head,.
The 6’5″ Ugonoh dominated the first two rounds with his blistering right hands to the head and his big body shots. However, things turned sour for Ugonoh in round 3 when he got sloppy and was knocked down by a right hand to the from Breazale after he backed the 2012 U.S Olympian against the ropes and didn’t see the punch coming.
In round 4, Ugonoh turned the tables in suddenly exploding on Breazeale with some monstrous right hands that put him down on the canvas. However, Breazale came back at the end of the round to hurt Ugonoh with a kidney shot that put him down on one knee after the round had ended. Breazeale didn’t get credit for a knockdown, but he clearly had Ugonoh badly hurt.
At the start of round 5, it was clear that Ugonoh was either too tired too hurt to let his hands go. Breazeale started to tee off on Ugonoh with right hands and badly hurt. Breazeale backed Ugonoh against the ropes and dropped him with a big right hand to the head. Surprisingly, Ugonoh was able to get up off the canvas to continue fighting, but he was far too hurt ot protect himself from the head barrage of punches coming from Breazeale. The American fighter backed Ugonoh up against the ropes and knocked him down through the ropes with a tremendous right hand head shot. There was no way that Ugonoh could get back inside the ring even if the referee hadn’t stopped the fight immediately, which is what he did.
All in all, it was a great fight by two exciting heavyweights. Breazeale showed a ton of heart to come back from being hurt in round 4 to get the knockout. Breazeale’s left eye was badly swollen at the time of the stoppage. It was clear that if the fight had gone much longer, Breazeale’s eye would have closed up on him. Breazeale wasn’t in the best condition for the fight, as he weighed in at 263 pounds at Friday’s weigh-in, but he still was able to get his second win to recoup after being hurt in the 4th.
