Main Events returned to New Jersey at the Mark G. Etess Arena in the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Atlantic City, NJ, Saturday night. WBA Light Heavyweight Champion Dmitry Bivol, defended his title for the third time defeating former WBC World Champion Jean Pascal.
In the Main Event WBA World Light Heavyweight Champion Dmitry Bivol, 15-0 (11), of KYR, out of St. Petersburg, RUS, defeated former WBC World Light Heavyweight Champion Haitian Jean Pascal, 33-6-1 (20), out of Quebec, CAN, over 12 rounds in his third successfull title defense.
In the first round Bivol used his jab. Pascal landed an overhand right to the head of Bivol. Bivol drove Pascal back several steps with a right to the chin just prior to the bell. In the second round Bivol rocked Pascal with a right on the chin. Bivol missed with a right and Pascal countered with a right on the chin of Bivol.
In the third round Bivol kept pumping his jab looking for an opening as Pascal did much feinting but little throwing. Bivol landed a double left hook to the body of Pascal. Pascal missed wildly with a left hook getting off balance. Bilov landed a lead right to the chin of Pascal. In the fourth round Bilov landed a chopping right to the head of Pascal knocking him to the canvas. Pascal was able to get thru the round.
In the fifth round Pascal looked like he was ready to go. He tried fighting back but Bivol started everything with a solid jab landing a left hook to the body. In the sixth round Pascal landed a combination. Bivol kept the jab in the face of Pascal. Pascal missed with a wild right and Bivol countered with a right of his own. Bivol landed a solid left hook to the head of Pascal just prior to the bell.
In the seventh round Bivol landed a flurry of punches. Bivol landed four punches to the body and head of Pascal. Pascal’s legs are gone fighting on instinct. In the eighth round Pascal came out landing a dozen unanswered punches. Bivol came back to hurt him with a right to the chin making Pascal hold on. Pascal landed a lead right on the chin of Bivol.
In the ninth round Pascal missed with a right and was countered by a Bivol combination. Pascal looked to his right landed a left hook at the bell. In the tenth round Pascal decided to make a fight of it as both fighters flurried. Bivol had swelling under his left eye. Pascal landed half a dozen unsnsered punches mostly to the body of Bivol.
In the eleventh round Bivol landed a solid right to the head of Pascal after his fans were yelling “Bivol, Bivol”. Bivol landed a double left hook folowed by a right on the chin of Pascal. In the twelfth and final round Bivol landed a 3-punch combination to the head of Pascal. Pascal leaped forward landed a left hook to the chin of Bivol. Bivol landed a flurry of punches only to have Pascal land the final punch of the fight a right to the head.
Scores were Lynne Carte and Carlos Ortiz 119-109 and Harold Grant 117-111. This writer had it 119-109.
In the co-feature WBA Inter-Continental Heavyweight Champion Sergey “Russian Bear” Kuzmin, 14-0-1nc (11), of St. Petersburg, RUS, stopped southpaw LaRon Mitchell, 16-2 (14), out of San Francisco, CA, at 2:37 of the sixth round of a scheduled 12.
In the first round Kuzmin pressed the action with both fighters exchaning left hands. Kuzmin chased Mitchell throught the round. In the second round Kuzmin landed a straight right on the chin of Mitchell getting his attention. They clashed heads with Mitchell complaining of a cut. Mitchell came back landing a solid left to the chin of Kuzmin.
In the third round Kuzmin rocked Mitchell with a left hook to the chin. Mitchell continued to keep moving with Kuzmin stalking him. Both fighters threw at the same time with Kuzmin’s right getting there first dropping Mitchell to a knee. He got up at 8 complaining of a cut left eye. Cut-man Joey Eye worked on Mitchell’s cut. In the fourth round halfway thru Mitchell finally stopped running mixing it up before going back to running.
In the fifth round Kuzmin hurt Mitchell fighting inside with several right uppercuts. Mitchell looked spent rubbin his left eye cut. Kuzmin landed a pair of rights with Mitchell going to a knee.
Mitchell was checked by ring physician between rounds. In the sixth round Mitchell came out fighting Kuzmin inside before getting on the run again. Kuzmin dropped Mitchell with a left hook to the chin. Referee Eddie Claudio waved it off without a count.
In the co-feature WBA Inter-Continental Super Bantamweight Champion and 2016 Olympic Bronze Medalist southpaw Murodjon Akhmadallev, 5-0 (4), of Namangan, UZB, stopped southpaw Isaac “Dinamita” Zarate, 16-4-3 (2), out of San Pedro, CA, at 1:17 of the ninth round.
In the first round, Zarate threw what punches were thrown for the first half of the round. Akhmadallev landed a solid right uppercut to the chin of Zarate which was his first solid punch. In the second round Akhmadallev landed a combination to the delight of his fans. Then landed a 3-punch combination to the head of Zarate.
In the third round Akhmadallev rocked Zarate with a combination to the head. Zarate had little power to hold him off. In the fourth round Zarate landed a right cross to the chin of Akhmadallev. Akhmadallev pushed down the head of Zarate until he finally got warned by referee Eric Dali.
In the fifth round Zarate landed a 3-punch combination to the chin of Akhmadallev. Zarate landed half a dozen punches without return. Akhmadallev throws wild punches without landing prior to the bell. In the sixth round Zarate starts off with a 3-punch combination. Akhmadallev finally got warned for pushing by referee Dali. Akmadallev landed a flurry of punches.
In the seventh round Akmadallev warned a second time for pushing off. Zarate landed several uppercuts. Akmadallev rocked Zarate with a left on the chin. In the eighth round Zarate used an effective jab to keep Akhmadallev at bay for the first half of the round. Akmadallev landed a solid right uppercut to the chin of Zarate. Akmadallev ended the round with a straight left to the chin rocking Zarate.
In the ninth round Admadallev was rocked with a wild right hook causing referee Dali to halt the fight. Zarate was not pleased.
Super Welterweight Israil “The Dream” Madrimov, 1-0 (1), of Khiva, UZB, made his debut stopping Mexican southpaw Vladimir “24k” Hernandez, 10-3 (6), out of Denver, CO, for the vacant WBA Regional Super Welterweight title, at 1:24 of the sixth round of a scheduled 10 rounds.
In the first round Hernandez did most of the punching as Madrimov did quite a bit of missing. Everytime Madrimov landed a punch his fans cheered. In the second round Madrimov went to the mid-section with a jab or right hand. Hernandez had a cut over his right eye from a Madrimov right. Madrimov landed a solid left hook to the chin of Hernandez. He followed up with a flurry of punches hurting Hernandez who came back with one punch at a time. The ring physcian checked Hernandez between rounds.
In the third round a wild right from Madrimov dropped Hernandez who barely beat the count of referee Harvey Dock. Referee Dock warned Madrimov of a low blow. In the fourth round Madrimov missed with a right but followed thru with a left hook to the chin of Hernandez. Madrimov landed several rights to the head of Hernandez rocking him. Hernandez had no quit in him. Madrinov landed a right uppercut and a left hook to the chin of Hernandez. Madrimov threw ever punch trying to knock out Hernandez. His style was awkward but heavy handed.
In the fifth round Madrimov rocked Hernandez with a lead right on the chin. Hernandez’s cut causing his right eye to startin to close. Hernandez got in the final punch a left uppercut to the chin of Madrimov. In the sixth round Madrimov landed a solid right while Hernandez came right back with a left of his own. Suddenly a “brawl” broke out with both throwing bombs with Hernandez getting the worst of it. Suddenly referee Dock waved it off. Hernandez was not pleased but took a lot of punishment. Madrimov did a couple of back flips for his fans.
At time of stoppage judges Al Bennett had it 50-44, Lynne Carter 49-45 and Steve Weisfeld 50-43. This writer had it 49-45.
Super Lightweight Shakhram “Wonder Boy” Giyasov, 6-0 (5), of UZB, out of Brooklyn, NY, stopped Miguel “Mikol Michael” Zamudio, 41-12-1 (25), out of Sinaloa, MEX, at 2:41 of the first round of a scheduled 8 rounds.
In the first round Shakhram dropped Zamudio with a left hook on the chin. Referee David Fields gave him the 8 count but Zamudio was looking to quit until a low punch from Shakhram caused a 5 minute delay by referee Fields. Zamudio tried mixing it up until a left hook from Shakhram dropped him to a knee with referee Fields calling a halt.
Lightweight Karl “The Dynamite” Dargan, 19-1 (9), out of Philly, defeated Moises “Moi-Gatti” Delgadillo, 17-18-2 (9), out of Guadalajara, MEX, over 8 rounds.
In the first round Delgadillo was the aggressor. In the second round Delgadillo continued throwing punches halfway thru the round until Dargan hurt him with a combination. A lead right from Dargan dropped Delgadillo seconds before the round ended. He got up and referee Eddie Claudio gave him the count when the bell sounded.
In the third round Delgadillo and Dargan mixed it up. Dargan landed the more effective punches but it was a close round. In the fourth round both fighters mixed it up more than in any previous rounds with Dargan boxing better as Delgadillo threw more punches.
In the fifth round Delgadillo outpunched Dargan who got his shots in but was Dargan pinned Delgadillo in the corner and had him hurt until Delgadillo tied him up. Delgadillo landed a left hook to the chin of Dargan but followed with a left low and was warned. Delgadillo ended the round with a left hook to the chin of Dargan.
Dargan seemed to take the sixth with Delgadillo edging him in the seventh.
In the eighth and final round they exchanged left hooks to the head. Dargan landed a 3-punch combination to the chin. Delgadillo came back with several left hooks to the chin of Dargan. Dargan spent the second half of the round moving away landing an occasional right while Delgadillo chased landing several left hooks.
All 3 judges had it 78-73 while this writer had it 76-75.
2016 Olympic Gold Medalist Heavyweight southpaw Evgeny Tishchenko, 3-0 (2), out of Belgorod, RUS, knocked out Christian Mariscal, 11-2 (5), of Tijuana, MEX, at 1:38 of the second round in a scheduled 6 rounds.
In the first round the much taller Tishchenko at 6’5″ stalks Mariscal with a jab in his face and right hand uppercuts to the body along with looping left hands to the chin. In the second round Tishchenko continued with even more punches until a straight left on the chin of Mariscal knocked im down. He made an effort to get up but didn’t quite beat the count of referee Harvey Dock.
Super Lightweight southpaw Logan Yoon, 14-0 (12), of Honolulu, HI, stopped Ugandan Hamza “The Templer” Sempewo, 14-11 (7), of Miami, FL, 2:39 of the fifth round in a scheduled 6 rounds.
In the first round Yoon hurt Sempewo with a lead left on the chin. Yoon continued working the body and head. Sempewo landed one of his few punches a lead right on the chin near the end of the round. In the second round Yoon continued a stead attack using his jab following with lefts to the chin of Sempewo. Yoon landed several right uppercuts. He continued to outwork Sempewo. Yoon landed a 3-punch combination with the final punch a hard left on the chin rocking Sempewo at the bell.
In the third round Yoon pinned Sempewo against the ropes with a good body attack easily taking the round. In the fourth round Yoon dropped Sempewo twice. He was very unsteady both times after beating the count of referee Eric Dali.
In the fifth round a jaab from Yoon had Sempewo’s left leg raised up. Sempewo was just hanging in there as Yoon hurt him with a right hook to the chin. A straight left from Yoon rocked Sempewo as referee Dali wisely stopped the fight.
Kathy Duva is CEO of Main Events and Jolene Mizzone is the matchmaker.