By Eric Baldwin: IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. (18-0, 14 KOs) will be making his first defense of his IB title this Friday night on February 10 against fringe contender #15 IBF Luis Cruz (22-4-1, 16 KOs) on Premier Boxing Champions on Bounce TV at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio.
The fight card starts at 9:00 p.m. ET/6:00 p.m. PT.
Easter captured the vacant IBF World lightweight title on September 9 last year in beating Richard Commey by a 12 round split decision. Easter was knocked down by the big hitting Commey in round.
Cruz, 31, has lost four out of his last eight fights in the last six years. It’s unclear why the International Boxing Federation has him ranked in the top 15. Cruz fought to a 10 round draw agaisnt Ivan Redkach last April. Cruz has only won three fights in the last six years.
Also on the card is WBA Super World bantamweight champion Rau’Shee Warren (14-1, 4 KOs) defending his title against #1 WBA Zhanat Zhakiyanov (26-1, 18 KOs). This is going to be a tough fight for the light hitting Warren, because Zhakiyanov is a big puncher with heavy hands. Zhakiyanov is from Kazakhstan and he really sits down on his punches.
If Warren is going to win that fight, he’s going to need to fight a lot better than he did in his last two performances against Juan Carlos Payano. Warren was beaten by Payano by a 12 round split decision in their first fight in August 2015. In their rematch last year on June 18, Warren won the fight by a 12 round majority decision. It was still a very close fight. If Payano had a little more punching power, he would have been a real headache for Warren.
Zhakiyanov, 33, is a much tougher fighter than the guys that Warren has been facing. Zhakiyanov has knocked out 12 out of his last 13 opponents he’s faced. The good news for Warren is Zhakiyanov had problems in his last fight in beating Yonfrez Parejo (19-2-1, 9 KOs) by a 12 round split decision on November 7, 2015, Zhakiyanov didn’t fight at all in 2016, and he’s been out of the ring for the last 15 months. Zhakiyanov might have some ring rust. However, that’s not going to lessen Zhakiyanov’s punching power. He’s still going to be just as big as puncher as he was before.
Zhakiyanov seems to fade a bit in his fights. He was gassing out after 3 rounds in his fight against Karim Gueri in April 2014. Zhakiyanov was able to score a knockout in the 5th when he suddenly nailed Guefi with a big right hand that sent him down on the canvas. Zhakiyanov’s work rate had really dropped off before the knockout.
Warren could take advantage of Zhakiyanov if he tires out and throws fewer and fewer punches as the fight goes on. But it’s still going to be difficult for Warren to be able to handle Zhakiyanov’s power in the early rounds because he punches so hard.
Other fights on the card are as follows:
Jamel Herring vs. Art Hovhannisyan
Terrell Gausha vs. Luis Hernandez
Tyler McGreary vs. Jonathan Perez
Raynell Williams vs. Justin Savis
Devin Vargas vs. Tim Washington
Albert Bell vs. James Lester
Adrian Wilson vs. Rashad Scott