Sanchez Stops O’Quinn in 1st round

Saul Sanchez scored a vicious opening round stoppage over previously undefeated Ja’Rico O’Quinn in a bantamweight bout in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

In round one, Sanchez landed a big left hook that put O’Quinn on the deck. Moments later, a straight right to the head put O’Quinn down again. O’Quinn was hurt and Sanchez was all over him by landing a hard right that was followed by a left hook and another filush right that crumpled O’Quinn on the ropes and the fight, and the fight was stopped at 1:58.

Sanchez, 117 3/4 lbs of Pacoina, CA is 16-1 with 10 knockouts. O’Quinn, 115 1/4 lbs of Detroit is 14-1-1.

“I just stayed calm and knew I had to work behind my jab but then I surprised him with my left hook and I saw that he got dropped and was hurt,” exclaimed the excited young prospect Sanchez. “That’s when I finished him. Honestly, I never envisioned the knockout that early. In the later rounds, yes. But not that early.

“This moment feels amazing. I made a big statement. He was undefeated and I was on the ‘B’ side. And now I move onto bigger and better things. I will fight anyone right now and I am going to work my way up to a world title. I want to fight again this year. I know I gained a few more fans tonight.”

“I could feel something was wrong in the dressing room,” said the 26-year-old O’Quinn. “I didn’t even feel like warming up. I knew something wasn’t right and I tried to work past it, but it was not my night. He did what he was supposed to do. He was just the better man tonight and I have no excuses. I will be back. This is a temporary setback.”

Nunez Decisions Garnett

Luis Nunez won a 10-round unanimous decision over Jayvan Garnett in a featherweight bout featuring undefeated fighters.

Nunez landed 135 of 531 punches; Garnett was 97 of 428

Nunez, 125 1/2 lbs of Reading, PA won by scores of 100-90 on all cards and is now 12-0. Garnett, 125 1/2 lbs of Cincinnati, OH is 10-1.

“It was a great performance and I agreed with the judges – I won every round,” said the rising prospect Nunez who made his ShoBox debut. “I feel like I had good defense and an attacking style. He was a good boxer but he never hurt me. I’m ready for whoever my promoter Sampson puts in front of me next.”

Eranosyan Decisions Guerrero

Otar Eranosyan remained undefeated with a eight-round unanimous decision over Alejandro Guerrero in a junior lightweight bout.

Eranosyan landed 199 of 585 punches; Guerrero was 135 of 584.

Eranosyan, 130 lbs of Miami won by scores of 79-73 and 78-74 twice, and is now 10-0. Guerrero, 129 1/4 lbs of Houston is 12-2.

“I am very happy,” said Eranosyan, who is ranked No. 9 by the WBA at 130 pounds and fought for the sixth time in 2021. “This was my first fight on SHOWTIME, but far from my last. I am the best in my division. I was never hurt, and I knew I had won. He was a good fighter, but I am Otar.”

“There are little things here and there I should have adjusted,” said the 23-year-old Guerrero, a celebrated amateur who won two junior national titles. “Styles make fights and this was one hell of a fight. The better man got the win today. It was a real close decision. I would have given it a draw, if anything. We were both catching each other with good shots. It was a fun fight.

IN OFF-TV ACTION

Russian middleweight Timur Kerefov (now 12-0, 6 KO) put in a workmanlike performance in outpointing Jamaica, Queens, New York’s determined but outgunned Devaun Lee (now 10-8-1, 5 KO) over 10 rounds in the chief untelevised supporting bout of tonight’s ‘Rumble in the Rose District’ event, a ShoBox: The New Generation tripleheader presented by Salita Promotions and held outside in downtown Broken Arrow, Oklahoma.

Kerfefov, now living and training in Detroit, stifled the offense of Lee by constantly turning him and working the angles. Lee never stopped trying, but the 298-12 former amateur star Kerefov had too many weapons and physical advantages in speed and strength to be bested.

A tough customer who knows all the tricks, Kerefov was warned several times for using his head but was not penalized. Lee never seemed hurt by any of the Russian’s shots but his frustration with not being able to catch the elusive Russian was evident.

The scores were a dominating 100-90 by all three judges.

Detroit-based middleweight Marlon Harrington (now 4-0, 3 KO) overcame the curse of the awkward but tough MMA opponent by pounding out a unanimous four-round decision over Herlong, California’s Justin Baesman (now 0-2).

Harrington had things all his way throughout but couldn’t find the right timing for a finishing shot. Basesman can take a punch and, to his credit, didn’t do much running or holding to run out the clock. Post-fight, he celebrated joyfully after having survived the full distance.

The scores were 40-36 by all three judges.

“Coming off a bicep injury, I felt pretty good early and then the layoff set in a bit,” said Harrington, post-fight. “Once I warmed up, I was ok. He was a tough guy and real awkward. He came to fight though. I hit him with shots that put other people to sleep.”

Harrington says having his KO streak ended was inevitable. “It’s bittersweet having the streak ended, but it had to happen eventually,” he said, “You can’t go your whole career knocking guys out and not getting hit back.”

Oxnard, California’s former world title challenger Hugo Centeno Jr. (28-3-1, 15 KO) kept active with a two-round TKO of Tennessee veteran Kenneth Council (11-5-1, 8 KO).

Centeno had a look at Council for a round and then unloaded his world-class skills in round two. Council was down once and taking a two-fisted pounding before the action was stopped at 2:52 of the second.
About Salita Promotions

?Salita Promotions was founded in 2010 by Dmitriy Salita, a professional boxer and world-title challenger who saw the need for a promotional entity to feature boxing’s best young prospects and established contenders in North America and around the world. Viewers watching fighters on worldwide television networks including Showtime, HBO, ESPN, Spike TV, Universal Sports Network, UFC Fight Pass, DAZN, ESPN+ and MSG have enjoyed Salita Promotions fight action in recent years. We pride ourselves on offering our fighters opportunities inside and outside the ring. Salita Promotions looks forward to continuing to grow and serve the needs of fight fans

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