Trenton, NJ – In the main event from the Sun National Bank Center, Yenifel Vicente scored a scary one-punch knockout over Juan Dominguez that led to Dominguez being carried out of the ring in a stretcher.
The third round had just begun when Vicente floated a weak jab in Dominguez’s direction, followed by a vicious overhand right. In reaction to the jab, Dominguez pulled straight back, far enough to elude the jab, but not far enough to escape the overhand right that followed. The punch, which Dominguez never saw coming, instantly ended the fight, as it sent him flailing to the ground, where he would remain motionless until paramedics removed him from the ring in stretcher.
From the opening bell the fight saw good action, and both boxers found their share of success. Halfway through the first round Vicente seemingly wobbled “Baby Tito”, albeit briefly. Dominguez was able to recover and launch his own offensive attacks during the final third of the first frame.
In the second round, Dominguez was deducted one point by referee Earl Brown after he hit Vicente below the waist on two occasions.
But it was only twenty seconds into the third round that Brown stood over a sprawled out Dominguez, calling an obvious halt to the bout.
With the victory, Vicente earns arguably the biggest win of his career and improves his record to 28-3-2, 20 KO. Dominguez suffers his first professional loss and is now 19-1, 13 KO.
In an eight round middleweight bout former Virginia Golden Gloves champion, Immanuwel Aleem upped his perfect record to 15-0, 9 KO with a hard earned split decision victory over Colombian Carlos Galvan (11-4-1, 10 KO). Both technically sound fighters found their share of success throughout the bout, but ultimately it was Aleem who landed the more impressionable blows.
Judge John McKai and Lawrence Layton scored the bout for Aleem, 77-75 and 78-74, respectively. While John Stewart saw the fight in favor of Galvan, scoring it 77-75 for the Colombian.
In the first of the televised bouts on Fox Sports 1, Keith “Machine Gun” Tapia (17-0, 11 KO) slugged out a unanimous decision victory over Philadelphia’s Garret Wilson (16-10-1, 9KO). The first round saw immediate action with the Puerto Rican Tapia coming out of his corner like a man possessed, immediately rushing to greet Wilson and let his hands fly – setting a fast-paced tone that would define the fight over the first six rounds.
The second round saw even more fireworks than its predecessor, sparked by a Wilson right hand that caught Tapia on the top of his head, briefly wobbling him. Tapia responding by unleashing a barrage of punches on Wilson, which turned into a barbaric exchange that ultimately left Tapia with a cut over his left eye. Midway through round three, Wilson landed another flush right that seemed to momentarily shake Tapia. Again, the Puerto Rican immediately responded with a monster right of his own, which led to a vicious trading of blows while Wilson’s back was against the ropes.
The fourth and fifth rounds played host to more willing exchanges by the cruiserweights, highlighted by Wilson’s landing of two clean overhand rights in the fourth and a counter left uppercut from Tapia toward the end of round five. In the sixth, Tapia found success with lead left hooks and uppercuts. Earlier in the fight, Tapia was trying to set up right hands behind his jab, but in the sixth stanza his change of approach resulted in the “Machine Gun” landing some of his best power shots.
Toward the end of the ninth, Tapia again unloaded on Wilson, who somehow managed to stay on his feet as he absorbed huge right hands and two head-snapping uppercuts.
Somehow, the fight went the distance and when it was all said and done, Tapia earned the decision from the ringside judges.
Judge John Stewart scored the bout 97-93, while Robin Taylor and Lawrence Layton had it 99-91.
“I never looked for a knockout and I knew he was a tough son-of-a-gun,” Tapia said afterward. “I respect him one-thousand percent…this was my toughest fight.”
After a fourteen-month layoff, former light heavyweight champion, “Bad” Chad Dawson stepped back between the ropes and scored a unanimous decision victory over Shujaa El Amin. After a tentative first round that was highlighted by a Dawson low blow, action picked up in the second round when the former champ landed a beautifully thrown left uppercut right on the button. Dawson followed that up with a flurry of punches that sent El Amin retreating toward a neutral corner, where he would cover up for the duration of the round. The rest of the fight played out like the movie Groundhog Day – where round after round Dawson would back El Amin into a corner, before settling in and letting his hands fly. To his credit, El Amin absorbed everything Dawson had to offer, and never found himself in danger of losing via knockout. However, he also never put himself in a position to win a round.
At the conclusion of round ten, all three judges scored it a shutout: 100-90, Dawson.
“I showed I was prepared to go ten rounds, I said I could go ten rounds,” Dawson said. “I think I’m 2 or 3 fights away from a title fight.”
Dawson’s record improves to 33-4, 18 KO, while El Amin’s slips to 12-9, 6 KOs.
In a four round heavyweight scrap, Dan Pasciolla (6-1) earned a unanimous decision over Corey Morley (0-1-1). Working well behind an effective jab, Pasciolla controlled the tempo of the fight — keeping his smaller, heavier opponent at a safe distance throughout. At the end of round four, all three judges turned in scorecards of 40-36, Pasciolla.
Philadelphia super middleweight Christopher Brooker (5-1, 5 KO) scored a sixth round TKO over Oklahoma’s Zaccariah Kelly (5-13, 5 KO). Brooker used his height and reach advantage to keep Kelly at distance throughout most of the bout. In the firth round, Brooker began raining bombs on Kelly, sending him into survival mode. Referee Earl Brown debated stopping the fight late in the round, but just when he seemed ready to jump between fighters, the bell sounded. Kelly lasted just :32 into the sixth and final round before Brown stepped in to call a halt to the bout.
In his professional debut, Baltimore’s Jordan “Shortdog” White (1-0, 1 KO) needed just twenty seconds and three punches to KO Puerto Rico’s Jose Roman (0-4). A straight left hand sent Roman to the canvas where he would fail to beat referee Sparkle Lee’s ten count. White’s career begins 1-0, 1 KO, while Roman remains winless and drops to 0-5.
In a welterweight bout, Chicago’s Alex Martin stayed undefeated with a unanimous decision victory over Cameron Kreal of Las Vegas. Martin’s record goes to 11-0, 5 KO, while Kreal’s drops to 8-9-2, 1 KO. All three judges scored it a shutout for Martin, 60-54.
