Beibut Shumenov defended his WBA Light Heavyweight championship with a ninth round stoppage over Danny Santiago at The South Point Hotel in Las Vegas.
Shumenov showed the faster hands and was more active throughout the bout. In round nine, the champion came out and landed twenty unanswered shots on Santiago and referee Tony Weeks stopped the bout at forty-six seconds of round nine.
Shumenov, 175 lbs of Las Vegas is now 12-1 with eight knockouts. Santiago, 173 lbs of Ocala, FL is now 31-5-1
I didn’t count the punches,” Shumenov said after the fight, “but I could have thrown more.”
“Fire& Fury” was promoted by KZ Event Productions (the Shumenov brothers –Beibut and Chingis – own and operate the Las Vegas-based KZ Event Productions) in association with Golden Boy Promotions, Don Chargin Productions, GuiltyBoxing and South Point Hotel Casino, and sponsored by Cerveza Tecate and AT&T.
Former world light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal watched the fight from ringside.“He said he wanted to fight me in Canada,” Shumenov said after speaking with Pascal in the ring. “I said he was from Canada, I’m from Kazakhstan, so let’sfight in Las Vegas where all champions dream of fighting. Pascal, Cloud, Dawson……I’m ready for anybody!”
“Shumenov is a great fighter,” Santiago remarked. “He has a good, sound technique. My eye swelled and got worse and I had trouble seeing the punches at the end. I thought I could have gone longer but, you live by the sword, you die by the sword.”
Lonnie Smith scored an impressive stoppage over Eduardo Arcos after round three of their scheduled six round Jr. Lightweight bout.
It was a very exciting bout while it lasted as Arcos landed some heavy bombs during some furious exchanges in round one. In round two, Smith gained control as he ripped some hard power shots that was showcased by some thumping uppercuts.
It was more of the same in round three, as Smith landed some hard shots and opened a cut on the left eyebrow of Arcos and the bout was stopped before round four could commence.
Smith, 130 lbs of Las Vegas is now 14-2-2 with ten knockouts. Arcos, 129 1/2 lbs of Tijuana, MX is now 16-5-1.
Joel Diaz Jr. dropped Esteban Nichol twice in round one en route to a stoppage in the opening frame of a scheduled four round Jr. Lightweight bout.
The time of the stoppage was 2:20 For Diaz Jr., 127 1/2 lbs of Palmdale, CA and is now 5-0 with four knockouts. Nichol, 127 1/2 lbs of North Denver, CO is now 3-2
Juan Suazo scored a six round unanimous decision over Ramon Montano in a Jr. Welterweight bout.
Scores were 60-54; 59-55 and 58-56 for Suazao, 137 1/2 lbs and is now 8-4-3. Montano 139 lbs is 17-10-2
