Abdullah Mason (19-0, 17 KOs) scored a fifth-round cut TKO stoppage win against veteran Jeremiah Nakathila (26-5, 21 KOs) in lightweight action in the main event on Saturday night at the Norfolk, Virginia.
The ringside doctor advised that the fight to be stopped due to a cut that Nakathila had sustained over his left eye in the fourth. The official time of the stoppage was one second into the fifth round.
Mason hurt Nakathila, 35, in the fourth round with some big shots. Bleeding from a bad cut, Nakathila fought back and tagged Abdullah with some hard punches that caused him to think better about going for the finish. After the round ended, the referee examined Nakathila’s cut and repeatedly asked him if he wanted to continue fighting. He said he did and walked back to his corner.
Live Results
– Nahir Albright (17-2, 7 KOs) upset previously unbeaten light welterweight Kelvin Davis (15-1, 8 KOs) by a 10-round majority decision in a one-sided fight. Albright staggered Davis in rounds 2 and 4 with big shots. From that point on, the lanky 6’3″ Kelvin resembled an octopus, holding continuously and moving as much as he could on his weak legs.
It was ugly to watch all the holding from him. Despite the referee giving Kelvin, 28, repeated warnings, he never took a point off. The scoring was just as poor as the previous fight, with the judges scoring it 95-95, 97-93, and 96-94. Boxing News 24 scored it 9-1 for Albright.
The only round Kelvin appeared to win was round 1, and even that round, it was still all Albright. He landed two big shots in that round. With a better set of judges, this should have been a 100-90 score with Albright winning all 10 rounds.
– Delante ‘Tiger’ Johnson (16-0, 7 KOs) won a questionable 10-round unanimous decision against Janelson Figueroa Bocachica (17-4-1, 11 KOs) in light welterweight action. The scores were 100-90, 97-93, 98-92. Boxing News 24 scored it for Boachica 6-4. The 2020 Olympian ‘Tiger’ looked timid and afraid throughout the fight, and didn’t let his hands go until the eighth round.
However, he then went back into his shell after taking some big shots from Bocachica in the ninth round. In the 10th, there was no action on the round, as both guys looked like frozen statues, getting booed by the crowd. The crowd was booing from the sixth round, as they were unhappy with how few punches were being thrown.
Top Rank needs to figure out what they want to do with Tiger, 26, because he’s not shown the kind of offense or power that suggests he can win a world title at 140. It’s great that he fought in the 2020 Olympics, but this is the pros and he’s not panning out.
– Troy Isley (15-0, 5 KOs) defeated Etoundi Michel William (16-2, 12 KOs) by a competitive 10-round unanimous decision in middleweight action. The fight was a back-and-forth one, with Isley finally pulling away in the championship rounds.
The scores were 98-92, 96-94, and 96-94. The last two scores were more representative of the type of fight than the wide 98-92 one. Isley’s lack of punching power is what held him back. He can’t punch, and he struggles when going up against fighters with any kind of pop.
– Keon Davis (4-0, 3 KOs) stopped Michael Velez (3-1, 2 KOs) in the second round of a scheduled six-round welterweight clash. Keon, the 23-year-old brother of Keyshawn Davis, landed a short left hook to the body of Velez to put him down in round two. Velez crawled to his corner with a look of pain on his face and was counted out. The time of the stoppage was at 2:22 of round two.
