Guzman crushes outmatched Pabon; Paredes destroys Leyva on ESPN FNF.

HOLLYWOOD, FLA–ESPN Friday Night Fights was live from the Diplomat Resort in Hollywood, where Henry Rivaltas’ and Shannon Briggs’ Acqinity Sports presented the “D-Day: Dominican Domination” card.

“Acquinity Sports has the best fighter on the planet, Joan Baby Tyson” Guzman, proudly representing The Dominican Republic” is what promoter Henry Rivatla exclaimed about the his contender earlier this week. Joan Guzman 32-0-1, (19 Kos) lived up to some of that hype with a brutal knock out win over Puerto Rico’s Jesus Pabon 17-3, (11 KO’s). Guzman controlled the fight with vicous punches that knocked Jesus Pabon down a total of 4 times. The fight was cleary a mismatch of skill as Pabon had a ton of heart but very little of a challange for the tough Brooklyn based fighter Guzman. Guzman took his time where it seemed at times where he seemed to hold back from attacking.

Guzman dropped Pabon with an brutal left that put Pabon down and out at 1:23 of round eight. Acquinity promoter and former heavyweight champion Shannon Briggs was vocal of the hard work Guzman has put in at the Miami gym of Brigg’s former trainer Herman Caicedo.

Previsouly Guzman has dealt with adversity, despite capturing belts in the junior-lightweight and lightweight divisions. The label was placed on Guzman after he failed to make weight for title fights against Nate Campbell and Ali Funeka. Moreover, the Nevada Athletic Commission suspended Guzman for eight months after he tested positive for a banned substance before another bout in December 2010. Guzman, 32, now feels rejuvenated. Free of his suspension he has begun his run for a third world title and to repair his reputation.

The opening on air bout showcased local Miami contender Welterweight Ed “The Lion” Paredes (30-3-1, 11 KOs) in impressive fashion over late replacement Manuel Leyva (21-5, 12 KOs). Paredes successfully defended his WBO an WBC Latino titles while representing the Dominican Republic. Paredes started the fight with sharp punches while his southpaw counterpart retreated trying to stay away from Paredes’ sharp hard right hands. Paredes found an early home for his right hands and hurt his Mexican oponent in the third round with blistering straight rights and uppercuts. Paredes had Leyva hurt in the third and applied steady pressure but seemed to let Leyva recover and survive the round. Paredes continued with the pressure and dropped the Mexican twice in the fifth both times with an excellent left hook right uppercut combination and again Leyva survived the round while punching on his feet quit admirabley. The brave Mexicans’ survival came to an end came at 1:29 of round seven when Paredes dug a deep left hook to the body and a right uppercut that crumbled Leyva ending the bout with Sam Burgos wisely calling a halt to the beating.

In a middleweight chess match of a bout Taureano Johnson 7-0(5KO) remained perfect while outpointing tough Brazilian Edvan Dos Santos Barros 13-13. Johnson commanded the fight with pressure while Barros fought cautiously seldom offering exchanges. Johnson swept all cards 60-54.

The opening bout of the night was an exciting brawl that left Anthony Castellon 0-0-1 and Tommy Bryant 2-4-1 to a majority draw. The two welterweights slugged however both seemed to have lost steam in just the four round bout. The final round saw both fighters slow and tired but punching. The cards read 39-37 for Bryant and two deadlocked at 38.

Light heavyweights Abdulah Dobey and Jerrod Caldwell had an opportunity of a lifetime when their bout was shown as the final bout of the live ESPN show. The bout was a rock’em sock’em robot affair that ended in a draw. The fight was ugly but entertaining while the two kept very busy. The cards read 39-37 40-36 and 38 38.

Super Middleweight Umberto Savigne improved to 8-1 with a crushing knockout win over Franck Paines 11-3.

Featherweight Claudio Marrero 11-0(9KO) captured the WBC FECARBOX title with a dominating unanimous decision win over Gerardo Zayas 18-19(11).