Bobby Gunn 197.4 lbs (21-6-1) vs Roy Jones, Jr. 199.0 lbs. (64-9)
It was a packed house at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware tonight when fans came out to see living legend Roy Jones, Jr. take on the Bareknuckle Champion Bobby Gunn in a bout for the WBF Cruiserweight World Championship. The fight was being billed as Skill vs. Will, representing Jones & Gunn, respectively. It was a pro-Jones crowd who stayed on their feet until the opening bell.
Round 1 was a feel out round with both fighters content to keep their distance. Jones landed more jabs and dictated the pace of the first round. 10-9 Jones.
Round 2 was another tentative round. Jones landed the two biggest punches of the round, a good left hook dig to the body and a vintage leaping left hook that Gunn took well. Gunn seems hesitant to engage and is content to let Jones pot shot him. 20-18 Jones.
Roy seemed to have fun in round 3, throwing a leaping left hook and catching Gunn with a big right hand towards the end of the round. Roy smiled throughout the round and jawed with ringside fans during the round. Gunn is hesitant to engage. 30-27 Jones.
Roy landed at will in round 4 with big shots to both the head and body. While taunting Gunn with a hip shake late in the round, Gunn returned the taunt and imitated Roy. 40-36 Jones.
Round 5 was all Jones, landing huge right hands and straight 1-2 combinations whenever he chose to do so. Roy appeared to be having a lot of fun and showed extremely fast hand speed. 50-45 Jones.
Round 6 was more of the same. Gunn did get in some shots in the corner and on the ropes, but nothing that seemed to affect Roy. Roy landed the bigger punches and is clearly the faster of the two fighters. 60-54 Jones.
Jones staggered Gunn with a quick combo to the head towards the end of the round. Jones stood in front of Gunn and jawed as if to say, “I could end it now, but no, you’re not ready.” Round 7 was an easy one for Jones. 70-63, Jones.
Bobby Gunn’s corner had seen enough and Gunn failed to answer the bell for round 8 in a fight that he was never in. If this was the end of the road for Superman, the Delaware fans were treated to one last night of brilliance. Bobby Gunn was game, but overmatched by one of the best to ever do it. The always classy Bobby Gunn said “Roy, you’re so good that I actually enjoyed you beating me up.” During Roy’s post-fight interview in the ring, Roy said, “my name is Roy, Damned Jones Junior!” I guess he said that just in case y’all musta forgot.
Kanat Islam 154.2 lbs. vs. Robson Assis 154.6 lbs. Jr. Middleweight 10 rounds
After an accidental head-butt that opened up a nasty gash in a bad spot over Islam’s right eye, Islam showed a sense of urgency and landed a series of huge right hands. A straight right hand put Assis on the mat. Assis could not beat the count and stayed down for a period of time after he was counted out to recover. The official time was 2:12 of the 1st round. Kanat improved to 23-0. During his post-fight interview in the ring, Kanat called out both Cotto and Canelo and said he wants a big fight. He then told the world, “I am coming.” After his explosive performance tonight, the world may be listening.
Round 1 saw minimal action with De Alba dictating the pace. 10-9 De Alba after 1.
Round 2 saw neither fighter landing anything substantial in a round that could have gone either way. De Alba may have done enough body work to steal the round. 20-18 De Alba after two rounds.
Round 3 was more of the same, with neither fighter landing anything substantial. I gave the round to Emeraz for decent body work in the red corner. 29-28 De Alba after 3 forgettable rounds.
De Alba was noticeably busier in round 4 and took the fight to Emeraz while alternating between southpaw and orthodox stances. De Alba landed a huge left hand that snapped Emaraz’s head back and was the biggest punch of the fight up to this point. De Alba seemed to take ownership of the fight. 39-37 De Alba after 4 rounds.
Round 5 featured Emeraz being more aggressive on the inside and he seemed to get to De Alba more often to the body. 48-47 De Alba after 5.
The 6th and final round was the busiest round with both fighters landing, but De Alba had a nice counter left hook near the end of the round and did enough to win the round. 15 rounds.com scores it 58-56 in a close fight.
Judges’ scorecards were 60-54 all in favor of Frank De Alba as he picked up a unanimous decision.
Local native Joey Tiberi, Jr. got the PPV portion of the night started by bringing the crowd to their feet in his bout against Bryan Timmons in a scheduled 4 rounder in the Lightweight Division. Round 1 showed minimal action, some big swings, but nobody landing anything too substantial. Tiberi did land one combo which was enough to win the round.
The second round was busier for both fighters with Tiberi landing the biggest blows, including a huge left hook. Tiberi 20-18 after 2 rounds.
The 3rd round showed better movement from Tiberi and his hands were much busier in round 3 and he landed bigger shots at will. Tiberi 30-27 after 3 rounds.
The 4th and final round started with Tiberi landing a few big hooks to the head. Late in the round, Tiberi attacked with multiple flurry attacks and landed a huge over-the-top right hand. Timmons was rocked and Tiberi pressed the action. Referee Vic de Wysocki wisely stopped the fight at 2:04 to prevent any further damage to Timmons.
Olimjon Nazarov 119.4 lbs vs Dagoberto Aguero 118.6 lbs Super Bantamweight 6 rounds
Dagoberto won via Majority Decision, judge’s scores were 57-57, 58-46, 59-55. 15rounds.com scorecard had it 57-57 with Nazarov landing the more effective power shots during the fight.
Dagoberto fought the fight mostly with his hands at his side and clowned about the ring, but Nazarov got his attention often with left hook shots to the body.
