Ivan Redkach scored a ten round unanimous decision over Tony Luis in a 10 round Lightweight bout at the Cook Convention Center in Memphis, Tennessee.
Luis matched Redkach in the first two minutes until he got caught at the end of the first round from a right hook that sent him to the canvas. Luis and Redkach fought pretty even over the next several round until Luis ate a big right hook that staggered Luis in round six. Later in the round, the two clashed heads and Luis & Redkach were both bleeding from their forehead. Luis landed a good left hand that hurt Redkach at the end of the round. The fight was nip and tuck and the tenth round was a microcosm of that as they both landed big shots down the stretch.
Redkach, 134 1/4 lbs of Los Angeles won by scores of 99-90, 97-92 and 97-93 and is now 16-0. Luis, 134 1/2 lbs of Cornwall, ONT, CAN is now 17-2.
“I won the fight clearly,’’ said Redkach, the WBC’s No. 13-ranked contender. “I learned a lot. Tony is a true warrior. He made the fight a dirty fight and I got sucked into that game.
“I will take this as a lesson learned into my next training camp and improve on it.’’
Luis was livid with the scoring. “There’s always room for improvement and I didn’t fight the perfect fight, but I thought this was a much, much closer fight,’’ he said. “I felt I was hurting him, and he was getting tired. I felt I’d knocked him down in the first, but the referee didn’t call it even though his gloves hit the canvas. The ref was breaking us up too soon. He wouldn’t let me work.
“This is very disappointing to say the least.’’
Frank Galarza scored a shocking 2nd round stoppage over previously undefeated John Thompson in a scheduled eight round Jr. Middleweight bout.
After a 1st round where Thompson boxed well, Galarza came out and landed a big right hand that buckled Thompson and thunderous left hook sent Thompson crumpled to the canvas and the fight was stopped 16 seconds into the 2nd round.
Galarza, 153 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 12-0-2 with 8 knockouts. Thompson, 153 1/4 lbs of Newark, NJ is now 14-1.
“Considering this was on a national stage, it has to be one of the very best wins in my career.’’
“Our game plan was to feel him out in the first and then step it up,’’ Galarza said. “The key was to get to him first, to not let him get off.’’
Antoine Douglas took an easy eight round unanimous decision over Marquis Davis in a Middleweight fight featuring undefeated fighters.
Douglas came out with bad intentions as he ripped a big barrage of power punches off of Davis. In round three, Douglas started getting through with some hard uppercuts. he went on to land a nice one-two combination in the round. Davis showed a solid chin. Douglas continued to win rounds and came out in round six throwing more power shots. During that round, a hard left hand knocked a tooth right out of Davis mouth. Douglas cruised down the stretch and even hurt Davis with about twenty seconds left and won the easy decision by scores of 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73.
Douglas, 158 lbs of Burke, VA is now 12-0. Davis, 159 1/2 lbs of Tampa, FL is now 8-1-2.
In an entertaining eight round Jr. Welterweight bout, Maurice Hooker and Abel Ramos battled to a majority draw.
Hooker was the choice early as he jabbed well and started mixing some solid chopping right hands over the first five frames. In round five, Ramos was showing the effects of the punches as he had a swelling around his left eye. Ramos came back to have a big round seven as he mashed some hard shots to the body and head of a visibly tired Hooker. He continued the assault in round eight as he landed a hard left that sent the mouthpiece of Hooker flying. The two battled all the way until the bell, with the last two rounds being big for Ramos to secure the draw by the scores of 77-75, 76-76 and 76-76.
Hooker, 141 1/2 lbs of Dallas, T is now 12-0-2. Ramos, 141 1/2 lbs of Casa Grande, AZ is now 8-0-1.