HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA — Former amateur star DonYil Livingston and former Contender series star Deon Elam each scored knockout wins to highlight a night of both boxing and mixed martial arts before an energetic crowd at the Circus Disco on Thursday night.
Taking on Lamar Horne in his professional debut, Livingston (1-0, 1 KO) of Palmdale, California started out the fight aggressively. Horne (2-6, 1 KO) of San Diego, California was competing for the first time in three years and seemed to be caught a little off guard by Livingston’s determined start. Livingston, 166 ¼, varied his attack to the head and body of Horne, 170, and landed in combinations.
Midway through the second round, Horne was stunned by a straight right, and began to hold on. Soon enough Livingston was able to break loose on the inside and landed four unanswered left hooks with Horne against the ropes, prompting referee Raul Caiz Jr. to call a halt to the bout. Official time of the stoppage was 2:57 of round two.
The most recognizable name on the card was that of cruiserweight Deon Elam (12-1, 6 KOs) of Van Nuys, California, a member of the season four cast of The Contender, who took on Vashon Daniels (6-5, 4 KOs) of San Antonio, Texas. Elam, 192, had a sizeable height and reach advantage over Daniels, 202, who had trouble finding his way to close quarters without getting caught with hard shots en route.
A stiff jab, right hand combination was successful early for Elam, but it would be a left to the body that would first drop Daniels to one knee. Daniels was able to reach his feet, however Elam soon found a home for a few more body shots to score a second knockdown. Referee Raul Caiz Jr. immediately waved off the fight without a count at 2:35 of the first round. For Elam, it was his second win in two weeks after ending a more than one year layoff following the taping of The Contender in Singapore.
In other action, Artur Bernetsyan (3-0, 2 KOs) of Glendale, California scored a second round stoppage over Nichoulas Brannies (1-5) of Bend, Oregon. Bernetsyan, 142, scored a knockdown in the first after hurting Brannies, 144, with a right hook and following up with a flurry. Bernetsyan focused on the body of Brannies early in the second round, eventually doubling him over with his attack. With Brannies in trouble, Bernetsyan again followed up with a flurry to score another knockdown and the fight was waved off at 1:09 of the second round.
In the fight of the night, debuting Richard Contreras (1-0, 1 KO) of Riverside, California scored a minor upset over former amateur standout Vachik Avagyan (2-1, 1 KO) of Glendale via third-round knockout. Avagyan, 117, got off to a solid start and outboxed the taller, lanky Contreras, 116, in the both first and second rounds. Avagyan, a former member of the Armenian National Team, displayed a hit-and-run style that suited him well as an amateur. Avagyan landed a hard left hand in the second that could have been scored a knockdown had he not fallen over on top of Contreras.
For two rounds Contreras could not pin the southpaw Avagyan down long enough to land more than one or two blows in succession. Finally in the third, Contreras countered Avagyan with a clean right hand to drop his opponent hard to the mat. Avagyan rose and quickly returned fire, rather than hold on or move away to completely clear the cobwebs. Both fighters went toe-to-toe for a stretch, before a vicious right uppercut dropped Avagyan again to end the fight. It was clear that Avagyan, who had gamely battled back toward the end of the round, was not going to get up and no count was needed. Time of the stoppage was 2:14 of the third round.
MMA
In the featured MMA attraction, Noad Lahat (4-0, 1 KO, 3 Submissions) of Glendale scored a quick submission victory over Richard Schiller (6-1, 5 Submissions) of Torrance, California. Lahat, 145, quickly gained control of the fight on the mat. Before Schiller, 144, could get acclimated to the ground game, Schiller cinched in with a rear naked choke. Schiller, displaying the will of an undefeated fighter, was able to get to one knee with Lahat locked in on his back. Unable to break free, Schiller had no choice but to tap out at 2:15 of round one.
In other mixed martial arts action, Andy Dermenjyan (4-1, 2 KOs, 2 Submissions) of Van Nuys scored a first-round stoppage over Jason Williams (1-6, 1 KO) of San Bernardino, California. Williams, 153, came out swinging, but was quickly taken to the mat by Dermenjyan, 150 ½, who immediately took control of the fight. Dermenjyan eventually worked his way to Williams’ back and locked in a choke hold for the tap out. Time of the stoppage was 2:50 of the first round.
In a competitive three-rounder, Jared Papazian (8-5-1, 3 KOs, 1 Submission) of Glendale took a hard-fought unanimous decision over Tyler Weathers (6-5, 4 Submissions) of Lakewood, California. The fight included some roughhousing, including an instance in the second round when Weathers, 144, ducked out of the ropes only to get hit by Papazian, 144, from a punch over the top rope. The fight was won in the third, as Papazian completely controlled the action. All three judges scored the bout 29-28 in favor of Papazian, who returns to the ring June 4th at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California.
Local favorite Cooper Gibson (1-1, 1 Submission) of Hollywood scored a quick submission victory over Ulises Figueroa (1-2, 1 Submission) of Lakewood. Gibson, 145, forced Figueroa, 145, to the ground a quickly applied a guillotine choke to get the victory. Time of the stoppage was 1:22 of the first.
Haik Tsaturyan (1-0) of Glendale made a successful pro debut with a unanimous three-round decision win over Chris Wolf (0-4) of San Bernardino. Tsaturyan, 135, controlled most of the first round, outside of one shot that sent him down to the mat. Tsaturyan quickly got up continued his success over Wolf, 135. Rounds two and three were turned completely into wrestling matches, where Tsaturyan had a decided advantage over Wolf. In the end, two judges scored the fight a shutout for Tsaturyan, 30-27, with one judge finding a round to give to Wolf with the score of 29-28.
Thursday’s card was the first offering of upstart promoters King Of The West Promotions.
Mario Ortega Jr. can be reached at ortega15rds@lycos.com.
