BROOKLYN, NY – Errol Spence Jr. (23-0, 20 KO) successfully made the first defense of his IBF welterweight title by battering former two-division world champion Lamont Peterson (35-4-1, 17 KO) en route to a seventh-round stoppage victory in front of 12,107 fight fans at the Barclay’s Center.
It was as impressive of a title defense one could expect from the Desoto, TX native, who, except for a brief stretch in the third round, controlled the fight from the opening bell to it’s commencement.
In the early rounds, the 28-year old Spence was both patient and aggressive. The former US Olympian used his jab to head and body establish distance between he and his counterpart. Spence, a former 2012 US Olympian, would wait for a small opening, and then explode into Peterson before quickly retreating out of range.
In the third round, the 33 year-old Peterson began to engage more and midway through the frame landed a straight right the face of Spence, sandwiched between two thumping left hooks that landed behind the champion’s right ear. Although Peterson showed signs of life, the round ultimately still belonged to Spence, who regained control and landed his shots before quickly retreating out of range.
In the fifth, Spence’s punches began to regularly penetrate Peterson’s guard. After landing a sharp right hook, Spence unleashed a vicious left hook around Peterson’s defense that landed flush on Peterson’s temple, sending him crashing back to the mat. Peterson beat referee Harvey Dock’s ten count, but was clearly still dazed. Smelling blood in the water, the Derrick James-trained Spence stepped on the gas and continued to batter Peterson around the ring until the bell mercifully sounded.
In the sixth, “The Truth” picked up right where he left off in the fifth and immediately unloaded on Peterson, delivering a calculated and thorough beat-down for the round’s duration.
After the seventh round, a round that very much mirrored the two before, referee Harvey Dock, acting on advice from Barry Hunter and Peterson’s corner, called a halt to the contest.
It was Spence’s tenth straight win inside the distance and his first time in the ring since capturing his title via stoppage against Kell Brook last May.
The loss marked only the second time in Peterson’s career he was stopped. The other TKO loss came courtesy of Lucas Matthysse in 2013.
Spence spoke after the fight, saying, “My coach came with a great game plan and I just followed through with it. Keep my range, keep my composure.”
He continued, “I didn’t know I would dominate like that. I expected to get the knockout, but this was a great performance. We were facing a great fighter like Lamont Peterson and we did well in there.”
As for what’s next for Spence, the champion made his intentions clear. “I want Keith Thurman. He has two of the belts and we both have big names. It’s an easy fight to make and I want it.”
Peterson also spoke afterward regarding his corners decision to stop the fight, stating, ““I always respect Barry’s decision. If he asks me to fight a million people, I will. If he asks me to stop. I will stop. I will never question his decision. I know he has my best interests at heart.”
Hunter echoed that sentiment, saying, ““It was really hard [to stop the fight], but if you know Lamont, you know he was not going to give up. So I had to stop it. At the end of the day this is my son right here. And there’s nothing more valuable than he’s well-being. If it comes to him or winning, I pick him. I care about him.”
As for Peterson’s next step, the 33-year old DC native, with over 280 professional bouts under his belt, admitted that retirement might be something for him to consider in the coming weeks.
Easter Scores Controversial Split Decision Win Over Fortuna
IBF lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr. (21-0, 14 KO) earned a controversial split decision victory over crafty veteran southpaw, Javier Fortuna (33-2-1, 23 KO), in a twelve round bout that saw both fighters have their fair share of success.
Originally, the contest was slated to be for Easter’s IBF lightweight title, but Fortuna tipped the scales at 136.4 lbs. at Friday’s weigh-in — a pound and a half over the lightweight maximum – and was ruled ineligible to challenge for the belt.
Easter, who had a 5-inch height and 7.5-inch reach advantage, failed to box on the outside. Rather, the Ohio native willingly walked forward to engage the much smaller Fortuna. This played into Fortuna hands, who knew his best chance at landing anything significant would likely come via counterpunch. If he were to score with any big left hands, he would need the 26-year old Easter to be a willing participant, and forego his reach advantage and engage.
And engage Easter did. Time and time again, the 26-year old champion came forward and exchanged with his Dominican foe, willing to eat a left hand in order to deliver his own punches.
The 28-year old Fortuna had his best success in round seven as it drew to a close. With his back against the ropes, uncorked a left cross that buzzed Easter and sent him in retreat. The southpaw quickly followed up and landed another clean left before the bell sounded to end the round.
Easter did his best work when the fight was fought in the center of the ring, which wasn’t often. Once he followed Fortuna to the ropes and the proximity between fighters got closer, both fighters had their share of success. But when Easter could sneak shots in in the center of the ring, he scored.
At the end of twelve, judge John McKaie scored the contest 114-113, Fortuna. Glenn Feldman and Kevin Morgan saw it the other way, scoring the bout 14-113 and 115-112 for Easter.
In the second round, Fortuna was deducted a point in the second round by referee Ricky Gonzalez after he repeatedly rabbit punched Easter behind the head.
For Easter, although he picked up the win, it was the second straight contest where he failed to impress and his second straight controversial decision. In June 2017, Easter scored a unanimous decision over Denis Shafikov in a fight that many believed Shafikov to have won.
With the split decision ruling, the Sampson Lewkowicz-managed Fortuna suffered his second career loss. The other came via eleventh-round TKO against Jason Sosa.
“It was a tough fight, he’s a former world champion for a reason,” Easter said afterward. “We made it tough trying to counter punch. He wasn’t throwing much and it made it difficult for me to chase this guy around.”
He continued, “I couldn’t get the knockout but we got the win and that’s all that matter. I knew he was going to run once he felt my power. He just wanted to grab and hold the whole fight.
Fortuna also spoke after the fight, saying, “The public knows what happened here. They booed because they know that I won this fight.
“If he’s a man let’s fight again at 135-pounds. I will definitely make the weight. I didn’t give myself enough time to train.”
Browne Blasts Ntetu, Destroys Him In One
Light heavyweight Marcus Browne (21-5, 16 KO) is beginning to make a habit of winning via early knockout. Fresh off his two-round demolition of Seanie Monaghan last April, Browne picked up where he left off and destroyed Francy Ntetu (17-2, 4 KO) in just 2:15.
Midway through the first of a scheduled ten rounds, the ex-US Olympian Browne landed a clean one-two, right-hook, straight-left combo, that collapsed the 35 year-old Ntetu’s legs and sent him face forward to the padded mat. Knowing he had wounded prey in front of him, Browne was relentless for the remainder of the fight. The former 3-time New York Golden Gloves champion unleashed hell on Ntetu, who was unable to survive his southpaw counterpart’s onslaught. After 27 year-old Browne put together one final string of unopposed punches, referee Arthur Mercante Jr. jumped between the two boxers to stop the bout at the 2:15 mark of the first round.
The fight marked the Quebec-native Ntetu’s second career loss, the other coming courtesy of unbeaten lightweight champion David Benavidez in 2016.
“I did not expect him to be that explosive,” Ntetu said. “He got me with his right hook and a straight left.
He continued, giving credit to his opponent. “[Browne] is very explosive, congrats to him. He’s explosive, he’s fast, he’s smart.”
Browne also spoke after the match. “We worked for this win. He walked into a sure shot and I made him pay,” he said afterward. “The overhand left caught him and that was the beginning of the end for him. I knew he was hurt.”
As for what’s next for Browne? “I need a world title shot. I’m ready to take on any of the champions. I don’t have any preferences.”
Blood, Guts, and Thunder: Kownacki Stops Kiladze Inside 6
In an all-action slugfest that brought the Barclay’s Center crowd to their feet round after round, Polish-born Brooklyn heavyweight, Adam “Baby Face” Kownacki (17-0, 14 KO) sent Iago Kiladze (26-2, 18 KO) to the mat twice en route to a sixth round TKO win.
It was bombs away from the opening bell, which saw Kownacki charge forward and bullrush his fellow Brooklyn transplant. The two fighters engaged immediately and seemingly didn’t stop until the final blow landed.
After weathering the initial Kownacki offensive, Kiladze was able to mount his own offense and opened a cut over Kownacki’s left eye midway through the first that immediately drew blood.
The second and third rounds played out much like the opening frame, with Kownacki letting his shots fly, and the Georgian-born Kiladze standing his ground, picking spots to fire back with his own fully-loaded punches.
But as the fight progressed, it was the 28 year-old heavyweight they call “Baby Face” who started getting the better of his opponent. Perhaps sparked by adrenaline born from having hundreds of enthusiastic Polish fans chanting his name, or by the fact doctors were closely monitoring the state of his increasingly swelling eye, Kownacki fought each round with a sense of urgency — with a burning need to close the show in style.
In the fourth round, a straight right connected and put Kildaze on the mat. Two rounds later, after raining down a barrage of heavy-handed shots, Kownacki unloaded a straight right that sent a dazed Kildaze stumbling backwards and to the canvas for the second and final time. Although he beat referee Shada Murdaugh’s ten count, Murdaugh deemed that Kildaze was in no state to continue and called a stop to the fight at the 2:08 mark of the round 6.
Tonight’s fight was the first time Kownacki was back in action since scoring the biggest win of his career, a fourth round TKO of fellow Pole and former heavyweight title challenger, Artur Szpilka.
“I think I made the fight a lot harder than I should have,” Kownacki said after the fight. “It’s another learning experience and I got the win. That’s all that matters.”
In his post-fight remarks, Kownacki also acknowledged his Polish supporters, stating, “I’m so thankful to all my Polish fans who come out and give me that extra support. I’m going to keep fighting for the fans and give everyone a great show.”
One Round Beatdown: Price Destroys Ramos, Stays Unbeaten
Mayweather Promotions bantamweight prospect Dylan Price (5-0, 5 KO) displayed a full arsenal of weapons during his one round beatdown of Nestor Ramos (7-8-3, 3 KO). Price, a Slickerville, NJ native showcased lightning-quick hand speed, launching fists at his Mexican counterpart from all kinds of crazy angles, smothering Ramos with gloved fists for what seemed like the entirety of the first round. As it turned out, that would be the fight’s only round, as referee Shada Murdaugh, acting on advice from Ramos’ corner, stopped the contest between rounds.
The win makes it 5 stoppage wins in 5 fights for “The Real Dyl”, who is trained by his father, Dave Price. The loss makes it six in a row for Ramos, who hasn’t earned a win since October 2014.
Anthony Peterson Cruises To Ten Round UD Victory
In just his second fight in the last twenty-seven months, Anthony Peterson (38-1, 24 KO) earned a ten round unanimous decision victory over fellow veteran junior welterweight, Luis Eduardo Florez (23-9, 19 KO).
Peterson, the younger brother of the night’s co-headliner, Lamont Peterson, was the non-stop aggressor, pressing the action all fight, walking forward, letting his hands fly, and battering his Colombian counterpart in the process. To his credit, the hard-nosed Florez hung in to the best of his ability, and at times was able to sneak in clean counterpunches that momentarily halted Peterson’s momentum. Florez’s small victories were few and far between, however, and the fight belonged to Peterson, who easily won every round.
After ten, all three judges cards scored a shutout for the DC native Peterson, 100-89 and 100-90, twice.
Peterson’s lone blemish remains a disqualification loss to Brandon Rios in 2010.
Golub Bounces Back From Defeat, Stops Munoz In 3
Ivan Golub (13-1, 12 KO) bounced back from his sole defeat last June and scored a third round TKO win over veteran Fidel Monterrosa Munoz (38-15-1, 30 KO) in a welterweight contest slated for 8. After a second round that saw Golub on the mat, albeit never hurt, the Ukranian-born Brooklyn transplant came roaring back to put Munoz on the canvas twice in the same round. In the third round, Munoz found himself on the mat four more times, only twice officially, and never from punches of serious consequence. The Colombian was fighting on unsteady legs, and was unable to stand toe-to-toe with the eager southpaw. After Munoz dropped to his knees his fourth time on the ground in a matter of minutes, referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the contest midway through the round.
Gonzalez Makes Easy Work Of Serna
Ridgewood, NY native Matthew Gonzalez (3-0, 2 KO) bruised and battered fellow middleweight Alexander Serna (1-2, 1 KO) en route to a four round unanimous decision victory. Gonzalez looked sharp and used his superior skill-set to have his way with Serna over the course of their twelve minute scrap. In the end, all judges scored the obvious 40-36 shutout in favor of Gonzalez.
Williams and Okoth Fight To Draw
Welterweights Keyshawn Williams (1-0-1, 1 KO) and Denis Okoth (1-0-1, 1 KO) battled to a four round split draw in the first fight of a nine bout card from the Barclay’s Center that will commence when undefeated IBF welterweight world champion Errol Spence Jr. defends his title against rugged veteran, Lamont Peterson.
After four hard fought rounds, Judge Larry Hazzard Jr. scored the night’s opening contest 39-37 for the 24 year old Kenyan, Okoth. Robin Taylor saw it the other way, 39-37 for the 20 year old DC native, Williams. Carlos Ortiz Jr. cemented the split draw result by scoring the bout even, 38-38, a score 15rounds.com agreed with.
