RANDOLPH, N.J. – Skender Halili cruised to his first ever victory by decision against Ecuador’s Eduardo Flores on Thursday night at the Skylands Event and Conference Center. Halili, now a Bronx resident with Albanian roots, delighted the large Albanian contingency at ringside by controlling the contest from opening to closing bell.
In the first two rounds, Halili set the tone, working well behind his jab and keeping his smaller opponent at a safe distance. In the third round, Halili turned up the heat and came out swinging, landing hard and clean punches. To his credit, Flores, a veteran fighter with over 318 rounds under his belt, took Halili’s punches well and always seemed to return fire, at times finding some success of his own. While Flores was able to sneak in a few punches here and there, they had little effect on Halili who not once was stopped in his tracks.
Not for lack of trying, Halili went the distance for just the second time in his career. This time, however, he would be the victor. All three ringside judges, Steven Weisfeld, Al Bennet, and James Kinney scored shutouts in favor of Halili, 60-50.
“I’m happy I went the distance,” Halili said after the fight. “I showed that I could and [that I] can win every round.”
Halili improved his record to 14-1, 13 KO, while Flores’ record dropped to 25-26-3, 15 KO.
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The night’s most entertaining and evenly matched contest saw Paterson, New Jersey’s Ian Green outpoint upstate New York’s Andy Mejias. It was Mejias first fight in almost three and a half years. There was no ring rust evident, however, as Mejias came out firing, attempting to land overhand rights. Early in the second round the Puerto Rican-American did just that. In fact, he landed two heavy-handed rights that clearly shook Green. That early success with the right might have ultimately doomed Mejias, however, as it seemed that was all he looked to land the rest of the fight. Although he was the aggressor and the fighter who pressed the action, Mejias put little work into the body of his foe.
Conversely, Green seemed content to fight a defensive fight, not unlike the fight Daniel Jacobs fought against Gennady Golovkin this past Saturday. Green dealt with Mejias’ pressure well, and effectively countered before ducking out of danger.
After six hard-to-score, entertaining rounds, the judges turned in their scorecards.
Judge Steve Weisfeld’s 57-57 draw was overruled by judges Al Bennett and James Kinney who scored the contest 58-56 in favor of Green.
15rounds.com had it the other way, scoring the contest 58-56 for Mejias.
Green improved to 12-1, 9 KO, while Mejias suffered his first professional defeat and is now 15-1, 6 KO.
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In the night’s co-feature, Enver Halili, fighting in just his second bout since 2014, defeated Nicaragua’s Ariel Vasquez via TKO. It took Halili about 90 seconds to shake any ring rust before he found his groove. Halili finished the first round strong, landing crisp jabs and nice combinations, varying his attacks to the head and the body. In the second round, Halili kicked it into another gear and came out firing. Everything he threw seemed to find its intended target. Eventually, Halili dropped Vasquez with a combination that concluded with a hard right to the body. Although Vasquez would make it back to his corner at the end of round 4, he would not answer the bell to start round 5. The result was a TKO victory for Halili, who improved to 9-0, 3 KO. Vasquez’s record fell to 13-17-2, 9 KO.
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Yurik “Don’t Be Careful, Be Sorry” Mamedov scored a second round TKO victory over Ghana’s Francis “Black Tiger” Gakpetor. Mamedov imposed his will from the onset of this fight, but it was ultimately a left hook to the body that accelerated Gakpetor’s demise. The vicious left hook planted on Gakpetor’s liver in the early goings of round two forced the “Black Tiger” to a knee. When he got up he was immediately greeted by Mamedov who scored at will until referee Sparkle Lee stepped in and called a halt to the contest. The fight was stopped at the 1:15 mark of round two.
Mamedov stayed perfect with the win, improving to 5-0, 3 KO, while Gakpetor’s record drops to 4-3-1, 3 KO.
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In his US debut, Kazhakstan’s Aidos Yerbossynuly was awarded a TKO victory after Riarus Dudley suffered a hand injury early in round two and could not continue. The first major exchange of the second round led to Dudley walking across the ring to take a knee. In visible pain, Dudley kept shaking his right hand, trying to get it to respond properly. That would not be the case, however, and when he returned to his feet Dudley informed referee Shada’ Murdaugh that he could not continue. The fight was stopped at the :39 second mark of the second round.
Yerbossynuly improved to 5-0, 5 KO, while Dudley dropped to 5-2-1, 2 KO.
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The night’s opening act saw Paris-born Brooklyn-resident Frederick Julian defeat North Carolina’s Jermaine Corley via fourth round TKO. In the second round, Julian forced Corley down to a knee courtesy of a left hook to the liver. Corley, cousin of “Chop-Chop”, beat the count and escaped the round.
In the fourth and final round, Julian again dug a hard left to Corley’s liver, extracting a wince. In pain, Corley retreated toward his corner and soon found himself with his back against the ropes and being smothered with a barrage Julian’s punches. Not sensing much of a response from Corley, referee Eric Dali jumped between fighters to call a halt to the bout with just nine seconds remaining in the contest.
With the win, Julian improved to 4-0, 2 KO, while Corley’s record slipped to 0-6.
