BROOKLYN– Adrien Broner and Jessie Vargas fought to an entertaining majority draw In front of 13,964 fans at Barclays Center.
The catchweight/welterweight bout saw Te fighters started off slowly, but the action picked up at the end of round two as Vargas started to land his jab. Vargas seemed to race out to a lead, but Broner started to warm up in the middle rounds which set off several exchanges that thrilled the big crowd assembled at Barclays Center.
When it seemed that Broner was forging ahead, Vargas, who was bleeding from his left eye in round eleven, stormed back and landed some good combinations.
Broner won a card 115-113, while two judges scored the fight even at 114-114.
“I want to thank Jessie Vargas. He’s a two-time world champion for a reason,” said Broner, who was working for the first time with Kevin Cunningham as his head trainer. “He came to fight but at the end of the day, you all know I beat him. Point blank, period.
“I was connecting with rights. I got warmed up in the early portion of the fight. My trainer was a big help tonight. I want to thank Coach Cunningham as well as my original coach, Mike Stafford, for realizing I needed to do something different.
“I would love to fight Vargas again, but let’s go back to my town to do it.”
“I thought I won the fight,” Vargas said. “At the end of the day I can’t argue because I was fighting on the inside of the ring so I don’t know what you saw from the outside. I was landing clean blows. It was a good fight but at the end of the day I can’t dispute the decision.
“It must have been a close fight for the judges to have scored it the way they did. I felt that I won the fight and I was up two rounds. I’m relying on the judges to make the right decision.”
Jermall Charlo won the WBC Interim Middleweight title with a 2nd round destruction of Hugo Centeno.
Charlo landed a booming right that left Centeno open and prone from a nasty left hook that put him down and out at 54 seconds.
Charlo, 160 lbs of Houston, TX is 27-0 with 21 knockouts. Centeno, 158.5 lbs of Oxnard, CA is 26-2.
“It’s been an amazing journey to get here,” said Charlo, the twin brother of WBC 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo. “I’m a two-time world champion. Bring on ‘GGG.’ I want that fight. I’m 27-0 with 21 knockouts. Everybody sees it. What more can I say?”
“Everybody has always avoided me and from now on, this is how it’s going to be,” said Charlo. “You see what you get.”
Gervonta Davis became a two-time world champion by destroying Jesus Cuellar inside of three rounds to become the WBA Super Featherweight champion.
Davis dropped Cuellar with a vicious body punch in round two. In round three, Davis dropped Cuellar with a straight left to the body. Moments later, it was a big barrage of punches that plummeted Cuellar to the canvas at 2:45.
Davis, 129 lbs of Baltimore is now 20-0 with 19 knockouts. Cuellar, 129.2 lbs of Buenos Aires, ARG is 28-3.
“On the undercard of the Mayweather-McGregor fight, I just wasn’t focused,” Davis said. “It was the second time fighting on Mayweather’s card so it got to my head and it showed. After the fight, I went home and talked to my team and we decided it was time to leave Baltimore. I’m focused and it showed because I’m a champ again.
“There’s always bumps in the road when you want to become successful. It’s all about how you bounce back and tonight I showed that I’m a true champion.”
“The game plan was to box a little bit and open him up with some shots,” Davis said. “When it was time, I went forward and caught him with enough shots to get him out.
“I want the IBF belt back and I’m ready to unify it with whoever wins the [Tevin] Farmer vs. [Billy] Dib fight.”
Former world champion Rau’shee Warren pitched a shutout and won an eight-round unanimous decision over Juan Medina in a bantamweight bout.
Warren, 116.4 lbs of Cincinnati, OH won by scores of 80-72 on all cards, and is now 16-2. Medina. 114.6 lbs of Lo Romana, MX is 10-3.
Heather Hardy remained undefeated by winning an 8-round unanimous decision over Paola Torres in a featherweight bout.
Hardy, 126.2 lbs of Brooklyn, NY won by scores of 79-73 twice and 78-74 and is now 21-0. Torres, 126.8 lbs of Monterrey, MX is 10-3.
Fabian Maidana dropped Justin Savi once en route to a stoppage after round three of their scheduled six round super lightweight bout.
Maidana, 141.8 lbs of Buenos Aires, ARG is 15-0 with 11 knockouts. Savi, 141.2 lbs of Silver Spring, MD is 9-16.
Gary Antuanne Russell remained undefeated by stopping Andrew Rodgers in round two of their scheduled six-round super lightweight bout.
The time of the stoppage was 1:40 for Russell, 139.6 lbs of Washington, DC who kept his perfect knockout streak at 5-0 with 5 knockouts. Rodgers, 136.4 lbs of Elkhart, IN is 4-3-1.
Shyngyskhan Tazhibay won 4 -round unanimous decision over Isaac Freeman in a welterweight bout.
In round one, Tazhibay dropped Freeman with left.
Tazhibay, 147 lbs of Washington, DC won by scores of 40-35 twice, and 39-36 to go to 6-0, Freeman, 146.4 lbs of Ypsilanti, MI is 3-7-1.
Richardson Hitchins stopped Alexander Charneco in the first round of their scheduled six round super flyweight bout.
Hitchins dropped Charneco with a body punch and he was counted out at 1:17.
Hitchins, 143.6 lbs of Brooklyn is 5-0 with 3 knockouts. Charneco 145.6 lbs of Aguada, PR is 4-5.
Dylan Price remained undefeated in winning a six-round unanimous decision over Edson Noria in a super flyweight bout.
In round four, Price dropped Noria with a body shot.
Price, 117 lbs of Sicklerville, NJ won by scores of 60-53 on all cards, and is now 6-0. Noria, 116.8 lbs of Mexico City is now 2-3.
George Arias won an eight-round unanimous decision over Tyrell Wright in a heavyweight bout.
Arias, 238.2 lbs of Bronx, NY won by scores of 78-74 and 77-75 twice, and is now 11-0. Wright, 236 lbs of Jersey City, NJ is 9-2-2.
