By Ken Hissner: At the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma Saturday over ESPN and ESPN+ Bob Arum (Top Rank) in association with Tony Golden Productions presented in the Main Event in a WBC title final eliminator 3-time Olympian and 2016 Olympic Gold Medalist the WBC No. 3 ranked Super Featherweight Robson “Nino” Conceicao of Bahia, Brazil came back from his first defeat defeated WBA No. 4 and No. 14 WBC ranked Xavier Martinez of Sacramento, CA, over ten rounds.
In the Main Event Super Featherweight Robson “Nino” Conceicao, 17-1 (8), #129.6, of Bahia, Brazil, defeated Xavier Martinez, 17-1 (11), #129.4, of Sacramento, CA, over ten lackluster rounds.
In the first round, it went back and forth, with Martinez going to the body and Conceicao jabbing with following rights to the chin. In the second round, Conceicao stole the round with a four-punch combination in the final seconds.
In the third round, Conceicao continued the busier of the two, but in the final seconds after a clash of heads, a counter left hook from Martinez on the temple hurt Conceicao.
In the fourth round, Martinez showed redness under his right eye from Conceicao’s right hands and outworked Martinez in the round.
In the fifth round, Conceicao continued landing more while Martinez seemed to be looking for that one left hand until the final seconds when he landed a 3-punch combination to the chin.
In the sixth round, Conceicao was the much busier, mainly with an effective jab.
In the seventh round, there was too much clinching for referee Gary Ritter’s warnings. Conceicao’s body punching won him another round. In the eighth round, Martinez finally landed a left hook after a minute into the round.
Though Conceicao continued fighting with his hands to his side, Martinez held back, throwing enough punches to win a round. In the ninth round, after a minute, Martinez rocked Conceicao with a lead right but failed to follow up.
In the final twenty seconds, Martinez landed a lead overhand right to the chin of Conceicao. In the tenth and final round, Conceicao continued outworking Martinez, who continued not pulling the trigger.
Scores were 99-91, 100-90, and 98-92, as did this writer have it.
Heavyweight Stephan “Big Shot” Shaw, 16-0-1nc (12), #234.8, of St. Louis, MO, stopped late sub Joey “Tank’ Dawejko, 21-10-4 (12), #258.6, of Philadelphia, PA, at 1:04 of the eighth and final round.
In the first round, Dawejko was the aggressor, while Shaw used an effective jab to the body and head. In the second round, Shaw came out, landing half a dozen unanswered punches from Dawejko.
Dawejko kept coming forward with more feints than punches allowing Shaw to take another round. In the fourth round, Dawejko continued not able to cut off the ring while Shaw moved well, landing jabs. In the final minute, Shaw landed a 4-punch combination to the chin of Dawejko.
In the fifth round, Dawejko finally landed a solid left hook to the chin of Shaw, whose hand and foot speed has kept him one step ahead of Dawejko with an effective jab taking another round.
In the sixth round, Shaw had Dawejko hurt after a minute, with Dawejko complaining of being hit behind the head. Shaw dominated.
In the seventh round, Shaw stays ahead of Dawejko but shows no finishing power when he does hurt Dawejko. In the eighth and final round, Shaw continued to win every round and outland Dawejko when all of a sudden referee Gary Ritter called the fight off as the corner of Dawejko trainer Brian McGinley called for a stop!
In the co-feature returning after over two years Super Lightweight southpaw Giavanni Cabrera, 19-0 (7), #138.6, of Chicago, IL, easily defeated Rene “El Bravo” Tellez Giron, 16-2 (10), #137, of Queretaro, MEX, over eight rounds.
In the first three rounds, the taller and awkward Cabrera easily outboxed by countering the oncoming Giron. In the fourth round, Cabrera worked the body of Giron well to take another round.
In the fifth round, Giron made it more competitive though still losing the round.
In the sixth round, Cabrera continued landing enough to win the round but got hit with a lunging left hook on the chin from Giron in the final seconds of the round. In the seventh round, it was more of the same with Cabrera out landing Giron, who showed little offense. In the eighth and final round, Cabrera showed fast-handed flurries and then threw Giron to the canvas without a warning from referee Mark Nelson.
Scores were 77-75 and 78-74, with this writer 79-73.
Super Featherweight Kalliopi “Pink Tyson” Kourouni, 11-3 (2), #130, of Spartan, Greece, lost a majority decision to Carla Torres, 7-6 (0), #129.6, of PR and Cleveland, OH, over eight action rounds.
In the first round, it was all Torres on the offense against Tyson. In the second round, Torres forced Tyson to the canvas with a shoulder. In a competitive round, Torres ended it with left hooks to the chin of Tyson.
In the third round, Tyson had Torres against the ropes at the one-minute mark. Torres switching from southpaw to orthodox took over the remaining round. In the fourth round, Tyson had Torres in a corner until Torres spun around, taking it to Tyson from southpaw.
In the fifth round, with good exchanges from both boxers, Tyson had an edge. In the sixth round, Tyson forced Torres on the defense until the final seconds of the round, with Torres landed a big left hook to the chin of Tyson.
In the seventh round, Tyson landing wide, and wild punches took another round. In the eighth and final round, Torres hurt Tyson a minute into the round with a combination. She regained control of the fight with a solid final round.
Scores were 76-76, 80-72, and 77-75, as did this writer 77-75. Mark Nelson was the referee.
Local heavyweight Jeremiah “DreamLand” Milton, 4-0 (4), #237, of Tulsa, OK, stopped Dell Long, 7-10-2 (4), #287.8, of Fairdale, WV, at 1:30 of the first round after two knockdowns in a scheduled six rounds.
In the first round, a left hook from Milton on the chin dropped Long for an 8-count by referee Gary Ritter. Milton jumped all over Long into near the halfway mark of the round, landing a left on the chin and a right on the shoulder as Long was dropping a second time to the canvas forcing referee Ritter to wave it off immediately.
Welterweight 2021 Olympian Tiger Johnson, 2-0 (1), #145, of Cleveland, OH, easily defeated Xavier “By Any Means” Madrid, 3-1 (1), #145.6, of Albuquerque, NM, over four rounds.
In the first two rounds, Johnson countered the oncoming wild swinging Madrid well taking both rounds. In the third round, Johnson had the left eye of Madrid almost closed from solid right hands. In the fourth and final round, Johnson started with a 4-punch combination to the chin of Madrid.
Scores were all 40-36, as was this writers. Johnson is managed by David McWater.
Light Heavyweight Dante Benjamin, 1-0 (1), #172.6, of Cleveland, OH, knocked out Herman Rendon, 2-1 (0), #175.8, of Odessa, TX, at 2:05 of the first round in a scheduled four rounds.
In the first round, Benjamin scored two knockdowns, the second for the count.
Featherweight hot prospect Haven “The Hit Man” Brady, Jr., 5-0 (3), #127.8, of Albany, GA, shutout game Diuhl “Elegante” Olguin, 15-21-5 (10), #127.4, of Guadalajara, MEX, over six rounds.
In the first two rounds in his first 6, Brady controlled the action. In the third round, Brady landed quite a few lead rights to the chin of Olguin. In between rounds, Olguin had his right elbow getting iced.
In the fourth round, Brady countered well against the ever coming forward Olguin, who got in some left hooks to the chin and had the final punch of the round, a right on the chin of Bradly.
In the fifth round, Brady hurt Olguin with right uppercuts on the chin several times. In the sixth and final round, Brady showed his brilliance with lead rights having Olguin turn southpaw halfway through before going back to orthodox. Brady landed combinations and did a bit of showboating in taking all six rounds.
All judges had it, as did this writer 60-54. The referee was Gerald Ritter.
In an impressive performance, middleweight Nico “The Legend Continues” Ali Walsh, 4-0 (3), #162.4, of Las Vegas, NV, stopped Jerimiah Yeager, 1-2-1 (1), #159, of Erie, PA, at 2:39 of round two scoring a knockdown of a scheduled four rounds.
In the first round, Walsh landed several left hooks turning former MMA fighter Yeager to go southpaw and back. Yeager did land several wild rights on the chin. With a minute left in the round, Walsh hurt Yeager with a right on the chin.
In the second round, a right and then a left hook on the chin from Walsh dropped Yeager for an 8-count from referee Gary Ritter with a minute left in the round. Upon rising, Walsh was all over Yeager landing a left driving him into the ropes out on his feet when referee Ritter called a halt with Yeager defenseless.
Walsh, the grandson of former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali, changed trainers from Kronk’s Sugar Hill for new trainer Richard Sloan in this his fourth fight.
In an impressive performance, featherweight Bruce “Shu Shu” Carrington, 2-0 (1), #125.8, of Brownsville, NY, stopped Steven Brown, 1-1 (1), #125.5, of Leon, Baja, CA, and Ft. Collins, CO, at 0:43 of round two in a scheduled four rounds.
In the first round, Carrington hurt Brown with a right on the chin near the halfway part of the round. It was all Brown. In the second round at the start, a right followed by three lefts on the chin from Carrington dropped Brown face-first to the canvas, forcing referee Gerald Ritter to wave it off immediately.