Oleksandr Usyk retained the undisputed cruiserweight title with an 8th round stoppage over Tony Bellew in Manchester, England.
Bellew took the early ;ead by landing some nice right hands on Usyk, who seemed to be biding his time to figure out Bellew. Usyk started to come on in the middle rounds and got his vaunted jab working.
Clearly with the momentum in his favor, Usyk continued to break down Bellew until he landed a crushing left that sent Bellew crashing back first over the bottom rope. Bellew got to his knees, but the fight was waved off at 2:00.
Usyk of Ukraine is 16-0 with 12 knockouts. Bellew of Liverpool, UK is 30-3-1.
Former world champion Anthony Crolla earned another world title shot with a 12-round unanimous decision over Daud Yordan in a lightweight contest.
Crolla of Manchester won by scores of 116-112 on all cards, and is now 34-6-3. Yordan of Indonesia is 38-4.
Former three-division world champion, Ricky Burns stopped Scott Cardle in round three of their scheduled 10-round lightweight bout.
In round one, blood started to flow from Cardle’s nose from hard jabs from Burns. In round three, Burns landed a perfect right that sent Cardle to the deck. Cardle got to his feet, but the fight was stopped at 2:06.
Burns, 138 lbs of Scotland is 43-7-1 with 16 knockouts. Cardle, 136 1/2 lbs is now 23-3-1.
Josh Kelly stopped Walter Castillo in round one of their scheduled 10-round welterweight bout.
In round one, Kelly dropped Castillo with a perfect 1-2 combination. Moments later, Kelly landed a hard combination on the ropes, and the fight was stopped at 2:55.
Kelly, 151 lbs of Sunderland, UK is 8-0 with six knockouts. Castillo, 149 1/2 lbs of Argentina is 13-3.
Dave Allen stopped Ariel Bracamonte after round seven of their scheduled 10-round heavyweight fight.
In round seven Bracamonte suffered a cut on the bridge of his nose from a flush right hand from Allen. The fight was halted after that round.
Allen, 257 1/4 lbs of England is 16-4-2 with 13 knockouts. Bracamonte, 256 1/2 lbs of Argentina is 8-2.
Richard Riakporhe stopped Sam Hyde in round eight of their scheduled 10-round cruiserweight bout featuring undefeated cruiserweights.
Riakporhe landed hard shots in round eight, and Hyde’s left eye began to swell in round eight. There was a huge hemotama that shut Hyde’s eight and the towel was thrown in.
Riakporhe, 197.3 lbs of London is 8-0 with seven knockouts. Hyde, 199.5 lbs of Manchester, UK is 13-1-1.
Dymytro Mytrofano and Gino Kanters battled to a four-round draw in a middleweight fight.
In round one, Kanters dropped Mytrofanov just seconds into the fight. Mytronfavov fought back but was only able to muster a draw.
Mytrofanov, who was an Olympian is 2-0-1. Kanters of The Netherlands is 5-2-1. The referee score was 38-38.
