Jarell Miller remained undefeated as he stopped Fred Kassi after round three of their scheduled ten round heavyweight bout at Rhinos Stadium in Rochester, New York.
Miller satrted to get to Kassi in the third round and had him in trouble on the ropes several times. After round three, Kassi complained that his hand was hurt and the bout was stopped.
Miller, 296 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is 18-0-1 with 16 knockouts. Kassi, 237 1/4 lbs of New Orleans, LA is 18-6-1.
“I knew it would take some time to get going tonight. I was thinking maybe three or four rounds to warm up and get going. But in the second round, I got my wind and I knew I hurt him,” said Miller, who is ranked among the top 10 heavyweights in three of the four sanctioning bodies. “My legs came alive and I touched his body and his head. I knew I was going to get the stoppage.
“I think he could have continued, though. He just didn’t want to. That’s why I take my hat off to Deontay Wilder. I still want to break his jaw, but he finished his fight with a broken hand. That’s what champions do. Kassi didn’t want to continue.
“Let’s talk about all these heavyweights. Tyson Fury, he doesn’t want this work. He’s always complaining. He’s always sick or something. I don’t know what’s wrong with him. Wilder, every five minutes he breaks another finger. Look, it’s just a matter of time before these guys are going to have to put up or shut up. Anthony Joshua, that’s going to be a mega fight. I am just begging for him to call my name.”
Kassi said, “I must have hurt my hand in the first round because in the second, every time I hit him I felt a shock. I wanted to keep going but he’s a big guy and I couldn’t use my hand. When you fight a guy that is 50 pounds heavier than you are, you need all the weapons.”
“The size difference and the strength difference was so enormous,” said SHOWTIME Boxing’s veteran analyst Steve Farhood. “Once Miller started rolling, it was clear that Kassi had no answers. Kassi had been nimble and he slid off the ropes a few times in round one. That was gone in round 2. So, perhaps in some people’s eyes, this win is cheapened by the injury, but to me it was clear that Big Baby was on his way to doing what more advanced heavyweights like Dominic Breazeale and Chris Arreola couldn’t do, and that’s stop Fred Kassi.
“Bottom line, Jarrell Miller’s stock went up tonight. He faced his toughest test and he passed it.”
Mason Menard scored a 9th round stoppage over Baha Mamadjonov in a scheduled ten round lightweight bout.
In round three, Menard was cut over his left eye.
In round seven, Menard dropped Mamaadjonov with a right to the body. Seconds later, it was another body shot that made Mamadjonav’s glove touch the canvas. In round nine, Menard landed a hard right that hurt Mamadjonov and after being seperated, he fell to the canvas and the fight was stopped.
Menard, 134 1/2 lbs of Rayne, LA is 32-1 with 24 knockouts. Mamadjonov, 135 lbs of Houston, TX is now 18-3.
“I feel great, but it was a B-level performance from me,” said Menard who is coming from a knockout-of-the-year candidate, “I could have done better. My opponent was an awkward fighter and we got him with two weeks’ notice.
“I knew if I kept putting the pressure, slowly he would fade and I would take him out in the later rounds and that’s exactly how it happened. He was hurting to the body. I knew after the first couple rounds he was breathing really heavy, so the game plan was to start touching him to the body. It was affecting him greatly.
“I’m definitely excited to get my second SHOWTIME knockout and I got some rounds under my belt. It’s been years since I went that many rounds, so it was good to know I can go that long and still finish strong.”
“I don’t really know what went wrong,” said Mamadjonov, who is known for his high boxing IQ. “It was short notice and I think I lost too much weight.
“I didn’t feel his punches, but he caught me with some good body shots. I was fighting evenly with him until the weight loss caught up to me and I got tired.
“I feel ok now. I’m good. I am disappointed but I’m fine. I’ll be back.”
Antonio Nieves and Alejandro Santiago battled to a 10-round split draw in a bantamweight bout.
In round five, Nieves was cut over the left eye from an accidental headbutt.
Each fighter took a card at 96-94 while a third card read even at 95-95.
Nieves, 117 lbs of Cleveland, OH is now 16-0-2. Santiago, 117 1/2 lbs of Tijuana, MX is 11-2-2.
Nieves landed 159 of 686 punches. Santiago was
“I thought it was close, but I think I pulled it out,” said Nieves. “I should have gotten the victory by maybe one or two points. But the judges see what they saw, you know?
“I do not feel I put on the impressive performance I was hoping to. I wasn’t at my best. He (Santiago) was a little awkward and my right hand was hurting a little bit, but I really don’t know why I wasn’t letting my hands go like I usually do.
“I learned I have to stick to my game plan and keep using my jab. I didn’t use it like I usually do. I need to just do what I do and not worry about what my opponent is doing.
“I don’t think nerves had anything to do with it, even though it was the biggest fight of my career. I was just letting him get off first. I should have followed my game plan, rather than react to what he was doing. I give myself a C for my performance tonight.”
“It was close, but I think I won the fight. I was always sure I’d beat him and I did. I landed more punches,” said Santiago. “I thought Nieves would be stronger than he was in there.
“I usually fight at super flyweight. I was coming up in weight to do this. It was an opportunity to open more doors for me and I took it. And I think that’s what I did tonight.”
Bakhtiyar Eyubov won a 10-round split decision over Karim Mayfield in a junior welterweight bout.
In round eight, Eyubov was deducted a point for a low blow.
Eyubov, 142 1/2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 95-94 twice while Mayfield took a card 95-94. Eyubov is 11-0. Mayfield, 142 3/4 lbs of San Francisco, CA is 19-4-1.
“I felt it was close, but I did everything I wanted to do and I feel I won nearly every round,” said Eyubov. “I was surprised by Mayfield, especially how hard his head is. He is a real man.
“My lip is a little swollen but that’s because of headbutts. Mayfield fought dirty in there. But I’m happy with the decision. I learned that I can go 10 rounds if I have to. I could go 12. I was still strong at the end of the fight.
“It was a good fight and he’s a tough fighter for sure, but I landed the harder shots and kept active. He was a tough guy, don’t get me wrong, but I certainly won that fight,” said Mayfield. “I feel I performed well. There’s always more work you can do, but for the most part I feel I did good. People thought for some odd reason the fight wouldn’t even go the distance, which is ludicrous. I won the fight though.
“It was part of my game plan to frustrate him and I feel I did that. I executed my plan well. Of course, there was more I could have done. I could have thrown more punches, but I did well.
