Jermain Taylor made a successful return to the ring and the Middleweight division with an eighth round stoppage over Jesse Nicklow in a scheduled ten round bout at the Morango Hotel and Resort in Cobazon, California.
Taylor, who was making his first ring appearance in twenty-seven months came out quick and went right after Nicklow. The bout settled into a solid boxing performance with Taylor featuring his once vaunted jab. Nicklow landed his one big shot of the night when he landed an overhand right that seemed to get Taylor’s attention round three.
Taylor then dominated with the jab for the next several rounds. Taylor was docked a point after round six for clearly hitting Nicklow after the bell. Taylor landed several big right hands in the seventh and that set up Taylor landing a big right and left hook that saw referee Ray Corona stop the fight maybe a bit premature at thirty-six seconds into round eight.
Taylor, 161 lbs of Little Rock, Arkansas is now 29-4-1 with eighteen knockouts. Nickoow, 159 lbs of Baltimore, MD is now 22-3-3.
“I felt a little rusty but as the rounds went by I got more comfortable,’’ Taylor said. “I wanted to try and go in there and have some fun. We’ll see where I go from here. There is no timetable. But I’m not going to walk from it. I’ll fight anybody.’’
Regarding the late hit, Taylor said, “I got a little frustrated with him leading with his head so much, but it is something that will never happen again. I apologize to all my fans. It was very unprofessional of me.’’
Andre Dirrell wasted no time in shaking off a twenty-one month layoff by disposing of Darryl Cunningham in round two of a scheduled ten round Super Middleweight bout.
After a feeling out first round, Dirrell landed a huge left that dropped Cunningham in the second frame. It seemed that Cunningham’s corner threw in the towel but referee Jack Reis did not acknowledge the act. Dirrell quickly jumped on Cunningham and dropped him again with a right and the towel was waved again but this time Reis stopped the fight at 2:05 of round two.
Dirrell, 169 lbs of Flint, MI is now 20-1 with fourteen knockouts. Cunningham, 167 1/2 lbs of Detroit, MI is now 24-3.
“I am just so happy to be back,’’ said Dirrell after this first fight since March 27, 2010. “I wanted it to go further, but I felt really good. My hands felt lighter, my feet felt fast. I’d say I fought at about 99.5 percent, which was more than I could ask for.
“Time will tell what I do next, but I’m going to continue to work hard. There is such a small window. I’m 28 years old. I’m just going to continue to push forward.
“But I can finally see the big picture again.’’
In a battle of undefeated Light Heavyweights, Luis Garcia won a eight round unanimous decision over a seemingly disinterested Alexander Johnson.
Garcia took what Johnson gave him which were solid yet unspectacular shots throughout the slow paced eight rounds. It seemed that after round two that Johnson wanted to be anywhere but in the ring on this night as he looked around the ring as much as his opponent.
Garcia had success with the right hand and was in control as Johnson threw very few punches (466-222) and landed alot less (193-32) then did Garcia.
Garcia, 174 1/2 lbs of Hatanzas, Cuba won by scores of 80-71; 80-72; 80-72 and is now 12-0. Johnson, 172 lbs of Washington, DC is now 12-1.
“This was my first fight in over 13 months and I was a little rusty but I am happy to get the win and looking forward to fighting again very soon in the states,’’ said Garcia after triumphing by the scores of 80-71 and 80-72 twice. “I promise that I’ll give the fans a much better show next time.’’
