By Vince Dwriter: The Showtime pay-per-view event featuring Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs Hector Luis Garcia consisted of a card that was packed with boxing stars who were sizeable favorites, but the upset of the night occurred when the hard hitting welterweight contender Roiman Villa defeated Rashidi Ellis (24-1, 15 KOs) by way of majority decision.
The speed difference was immediately identifiable as Ellis was fast and elusive. He started the bout off by using his jab and landing shots to his opponent’s body. Villa was pressing forward trying to generate offense, but Ellis did a good job of controlling the range and distance.
During the first half of the fight, Ellis was in complete control, and it seemed like he would cruise to a routine victory. However Villa continued to press forward, and he experienced some success during the second half of the fight as he did a good job of cutting off the ring and attacking the body.
Rashidi Ellis came into the bout as a talented welterweight contender, but the one criticism of Ellis is the fact that he has a habit of fading in the later rounds of fights. Going into the later rounds against Villa, once again Ellis showed signs of slowing down.
Roiman Villa continued to apply pressure, use his jab, and deliver shots to the body. In the 9th round he landed a solid left hand that wobbled Ellis. In the 10th round Villa picked up the pace as he started the round by landing some solid combinations, and he ended the round by landing a hard right hand.
In the 12th and final round of the fight, Villa landed a big left hook that sent Ellis down to the canvas. Ellis was able to get up, but he had to find a way to survive the last half of the round. Seconds later Villa appeared to score another knockdown, but the referee didn’t call it as so.
As Villa continued to stalk his wounded opponent, he was able to score a second knockdown with a few seconds left to go in the final round. Rashidi Ellis was able to beat the count, as the fight went to the scorecards, and the three judges’ scorecards revealed that Roiman Villa was awarded a majority decision victory by the official tally of 113-113, 114-112, and 114-112.
Roiman Villa (26-1, 24 KOs) pulled off a stunning come from behind victory. During his post-fight interview he acknowledged the slow start, but as the fight went on, he was able to get into a rhythm.
“I want to first of all thank God for this victory. Second of all he’s a tough fighter. He moves a lot. He does hit hard, but the first couple of rounds I was a little tight, but I got loose.”
At one point Rashidi Ellis was in complete control of his bout with Villa until the second half of the match. Villa spoke on how he anticipated receiving a chance to get back into the fight.
“I was on top of him from the first round. I knew that fighters like that, that are quick, sooner or later they get a little tired, and that’s what I took advantage of.”