Shakopee, MN- Heralded prospect Jamal James(8-0) met his match Saturday night at Canterbury Park, in the form of in state rival Corey Rodriguez(5-3).
James struggled to establish his height and reach advantage early on as Rodriguez pressed the issue. The Minneapolis native, James, remained on the back step into the middle rounds until a cut opened over the right eye of Rodriguez, the product of an incidental headbutt.
James began to land his jab, and follow up with power shots in the sixth round, and reclaimed the center of the ring by imposing his reach on the 5’9 Rodriguez. Midway through the seventh round, an additional accidental headbutt brought a stop to the bout , sending the verdict to the scorecards, Where Jamal James proved to be victorious by two cards of 68-65 and one reading 69-64.
In the co-feature, Minnesota’s pound for pound most accurate puncher, and featherweight knockout artist, Ismail “Sharpshooter” Muwendo (11-0 9 ko’s) stopped grizzled veteran Leon Bobo (18-10) at 2:53 of the second round.
Muwendo, who has established himself as one of the region’s most electrifying knockout artists, remained patient in the bout’s opening round. The veteran defense of Bobo was able to minimize the damage in the early goings, but a sustained offensive attack from Muwendo was able to take over in round two. Muwendo collapsed Bobo twice with body shots in round two, and earn a knockout victory moving him to 11-0.
Robert Brant (4-0) sizzled in his first round stoppage over Ryan White Mountain (2-4). Brant overwhelmed White Mountain with power shots early on, and didn’t let up. A crushing right hand finally dropped White Mountain to one knee. White Mountain eventually regained his footing but was unable to hold off Brant’s barrage, and suffered a first round knockout at the hands of the junior middleweight prospect.
In other action Jonathan Perez (4-0) beat Aaron Fernandez (2-8) by scores of 40-36 across the board. Olenraju Duradola stopped Sam Hill in the opening round. Dan Moret stopped Cheyenne Ziegler in the second round, and John Moxey scored a unanimous decision over John Schimon.