By Ken Hissner: At the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino, Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday on ESPN+ PPV, Tom Brown (TGB Promotions) and Bob Arum (Top Rank) presented in the Main Event WBO World Welterweight champion Terence “Bud” Crawford defending against former IBF and WBC World Welterweight champion Shawn “Showtime” Porter scored a pair of knockdowns in the tenth stopping the former champion. Porter announced his retirement after the fight.
In the Main Event WBO World Welterweight champion southpaw Terence “Bud” Crawford, 38-0 (28), #146.4, of Omaha, NEB, stopped former IBF and WBC World Welterweight champion Shawn “Showtime” Porter, 31-4-1 (17), #146.6, of Las Vegas, NV, 1:21 of the tenth round of a scheduled 12 rounds.
In the second round, Crawford hurt Porter with a body shot in the closing seconds. In the third round, Crawford came up into a clinch and accidentally hit Porter’s right eye, causing a cut on his right eyebrow. In the fourth round, southpaw Crawford got hit early with a Porter lead right. Crawford dominated the rest of the round.
In the fifth round with the fans yelling “Crawford, Crawford,” spurring him on. In the sixth round, a clash of heads caused a cut on Crawford’s right eyebrow due to Porter grabbing Crawford around the neck with his right arm. Porter continued to be the aggressor causing many clinches for referee Celestino Ruiz to contend with.
In the seventh, Porter was being hurt by bodywork from Crawford. In the eighth round, a lead right on the chin from Porter hurt Crawford. In the ninth round of a close fight, Crawford continues scoring body shots. Porter clinches and retaliates.
In the tenth round, Crawford goes orthodox and lands a right hook on the chin, and down went Porter for an 8-count from referee Ruiz. A minute later, a Crawford combination on the chin dropped Porter a second time. Porter’s father-trainer waved the fight off.
Through nine rounds, the scores were 87-84 and 86-85 twice for Crawford. This writer had it 87-84.
In the co-feature, Middleweight southpaw Esquiva Falcao, 29-0 (20), #158.8, of Vitoria, Espirito Santo, BRZ, and Riverside, CA, won by technical decision in the eighth round over Patrice Volny, 16-1 (10), #159.4, of Montreal, CAN, at 2:18 of a scheduled ten rounds.
In the first four rounds, it was all Falcao chasing down Volny. In the fifth round, the taller Volny finished strong to get the round. In the sixth round, due to a clash of heads, Falcao received a nasty slice over his left eye. Falcao was awarded the technical decision.
WBO Global Middleweight champion southpaw Zhanibek “Qazag Style” Alimkhanuly, 11-0 (7), #159.8, of KAZ and Oxnard, CA, stopped former WBO and WBA Hassan N’Dam N’Jikam, 38-6 (21), #158.6, of Cameron and Monte Carlo, Monaco, at 2:48 of the 8th round of a scheduled ten rounds.
In the first five rounds, Alimkhanuly chased, and N’Jikam ran. In the eighth round, N’Jikam couldn’t go on complaining of an injury giving Alimkhanuly the win.
Former WBO World Super Bantamweight champion now NABF Featherweight champion Isaac “Royal Storm” Dogboe, 23-2 (15), #125, of GH and Tampa, FL, won a majority decision over Christopher “Pitufo” Diaz, 26-4 (16), #125.5, of Barranquitas, PR, over ten rounds.
In the first round, Diaz was the busier of the two. In the second round, Dogboe picked up the action taking the round. In the third round, after a little over a minute, Diaz rocked Dogboe with a 3-punch combination to the chin. In the final minute, Dogboe landed well to the body of Diaz. In the fourth and fifth rounds, Diaz was out landing Dogboe.
In the seventh round, Diaz became the aggressor until the final seconds when Dogboe finally landed several punches. In the final two rounds, Dogboe took the ninth, and Diaz finishing strong in the tenth.
Scores were 95-95 with 96-94 and 97-93 Dogboe. This writer had it 96-94 Diaz. Raul Caiz, Jr., was the referee.
Lightweight Raymond “Danger” Muratalla, 13-0 (10), #135.4, of Fontana, CA, stopped Elias “El Macho” Damian Araujo, 21-4 (8), #137, of Venado Tuerto, Santa Fe, ARG, at 2:20 of the fifth round of a scheduled eight rounds.
Featherweight Adam “Blunose” Lopez, 15-3-1nd (6), #126.4, of Glendale, CA, ended after two rounds due to an accidental clash of heads, causing Ochoa not to be able to continue, ruled a no-decision against Adan Ochoa, 12-2-1nd (5), #126.5, of Compton, CA, scheduled eight rounds.
In the second round, Ochoa suffered a cut on his right eyebrow due to an accidental head but did enough to win the round. The referee was Alan Huggins, and it was declared a no-decision since four rounds were not completed. Ochoa couldn’t see from the cut.
Super Featherweight Carlos “Karlos” Balderas, 11-1 (10), #131.8, of Santa Maria, CA, stopped Julio “Memin” Cortez, 15-4 (11), #131.4, of Esmeraldas, ECU, San Jose, CA, in 4th round of a scheduled six rounds.
Welterweight Delante “Tiger” Johnson, 1-0 (1), #144.8, of Cleveland, OH, stopped Antonius Grable, 3-2 (3), #146.8, of Sarasota, FL, in 4th of a scheduled four rounds.
