BROOKLYN–It took one punch by Gervonta Davis to shut the mouth of Rolando Romero as Davis retained his WBA Lightweight title with a sixth round stoppage of Romero in front of a sold-out Barclays Center of 18,790.
The fight was a tactical first five-plus round with neither man averaging more than 20 punches per round.
Finally in round six, Romero ran right into a perfect left to the face that had him sprawling into the ropes and down the canvas, Romero got to his feet but was unsteady, and referee David Fields stopped the fight at 2:39.
Davis, 133.75 lbs of Baltimore, MD is 27-0 with 25 knockouts. Romero, 134.25 lbs of Las Vegas is 14-1.
Gervonta Davis
“I want to thank God, first for this victory, second I want to thank Al Haymon, Mayweather Promotions, Showtime, we did it again in New York City baby. Thank you New York City. I won my first belt here and it was great to come back to New York City and do it again.
“I was thinking as this interview was coming up and as much as I wanted to be cocky, but I want to thank Rolly. I want to thank his team. We settled it like men inside the ring. I wish him the best in the future.
“I knew it was all about selling the fight. I’m glad we didn’t fight the first time because I was so emotional. But I’m just grateful to be in this position and to be able to come out with the win. He was strong for sure but it was a couple shots that I was getting warmed up and he caught me and I was like, ‘I can’t sit with him just yet.’ I know when to take it to my opponents and when to chill out. There was someone in the crowd and they were telling me to press forward and I was like, not yet. I got to loose him up a little more.
“The crazy thing is that I didn’t even throw it that hard. He just ran into it. He just ran into it. Something like when Pacquiao got caught. I didn’t even throw it that hard and he’s the one who ran into it, when he was talking that it was going to be me.
“I knew that I could get into his head, just from when we weighed in. I knew his goal was to move in front of me (on stage during the weigh in) so when he went in front of me he didn’t realize that the stand was coming to an end so I just tapped him and he fell.
“I’m here baby, whatever they want to do, I’m here. I want to send my condolences to Mr. Russell, he was someone who I came up with in the amateurs. I want to shout out the Russell brothers and send my condolences to them.”
Lara Stops O’Sullivan in eight; Retains Middleweight title
Erislandy Lara retained the WBA Middleweight title with an eighth round stoppage over Gary O’Sullivan.
In round four, Lara dropped O’Sullivan with a straight left.
In round eight, it was another straight left that rocked O’Sullivan and the fight was stopped.
Lara, 159.75 lbs of Guantanamo, CUB is 29-3-3 with 17 knockouts. O’Sullivan, 159 lbs of Cork, IRE is 31-5.
Erislandy Lara
“This new style that I’m demonstrating is for all the boxers to show them how I can fight now, just being able to change up. He was a tough boxer, too.
“I’m a smart boxer, a slick boxer, that’s what I did tonight. I wait until he attacks and then I do what I have to do to win the fight.
“I saw the opening, he was leaving himself open and that’s when the left came in and knocked him down. I saw in the eighth round he didn’t have any more power and that’s when I stepped up and showed my power.
“I want to thank the fans that came to Brooklyn, Al Haymon and Luis De Cubas Jr. for setting up the big fights that I want to have for me. I’m still a force
Ramos Gets Family Revenge; Decisions Santanaria
Jesus Ramos avenged a loss that his uncle Abel had to Luke Santamaria, by winning a 10-round unanimous decision in a super welterweight bout.
Ramos landed 158 of 625 punches; Santamaria was 142 of 560.
Ramos, 153.5 lbs of Casa Grande, AZ won by scores of 98-92 and 97-93 and is now 19-0. Santamaria, 154 lbs of Garden Grove, CA is now 13-3-1.
Jesús Ramos
“Yes of course (it was important to avenge the loss of my uncle). It wasn’t the way we wanted to win, but I think it takes two to tango and tonight I was the one who wanted to fight. I’m not really satisfied. I could have done a lot better but like I said, it takes two to tango and tonight Santamaria didn’t want to fight
“I could have pressed a little more, gone to the body a little more, he was kind of slippery in there, and I didn’t want to risk anything because he would counter so I was trying to stay composed and stay at my distance.
“I’m going to go back and watch the fight and grow. I went 10 rounds again and it’s going to help me mature a lot more.
“I want whoever they want to put in front of me. We’re going to keep going forward and take whatever fight my team thinks is best for me.
“I could improve on cutting off the ring a little and going to the body a little bit more. He was headbutting me and fighting a little dirty in there, so I didn’t want to get too careless.”
Luke Santamaría
“I thought it was closer than that. I thought we got the win. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way. I moved up in weight. I thought he was going to be stronger than that. I thought we did enough to win the fight.
“The plan was to counter and slip his shots. I thought it was good enough to get the win but what happened happened and we can’t complain.
“We’re going to stay at 147. When you lose you dig a deep hole but we’ve dug ourselves out of the hole before and we’ll do it again. He never hurt me, never felt his power. I was good. I thought he was going to be tough. I’m just as tough as they come.
“The plan was to box him and to get him tired and it was working. I thought it worked.”
Ramirez Decisions Melendez
Eduardo Ramirez won a 10-round majority decision over Luis Melendez in a junior lightweight fight.
Ramirez landed 171 of 555 punches; Melendez was 193 of 659.
Ramirez, 130 lbs of Los Mochis, MEX won by scores of 98-92, 97-93 and 95-95 and is now 27-2-4.
Eduardo Ramírez
“The first few rounds were even, but after that he only had his jab. I was able to hurt him. He tried to win going backwards and that’s no way to win.
“I want to fight for the world title next. I’m ready for any of the top fighters. I don’t shy away from tough challenges.”
Luis Meléndez
“I felt I won the fight. It’s part of the game. You just have to go back and keep training and just come back better.
“The last scorecard when they said it, I felt I won, without a doubt. My people know I won, the crowd knows I won, it definitely hurts when you travel here and you expect to win and it’s my first pay-per-view. Everybody at home was watching me. It is what it is. I just have to go back to the drawing board and get better. I’m still young. I felt I landed the crisper punches and out-boxed him. He never hurt me. Never.
“It felt great to hear the crowd cheering for me. It’s more of a Gervonta crowd, but they showed me love. It just comes with the territory. The judges didn’t think it was for me this time. It is what it is.”
Luis Arias won a 10-round unanimous decision over Jimmy Williams in a super welterweight fight.
Arias, 155.25 lbs of Boca Raton, FL won by scores of 99-91 on all cards and is now 20-3-1. Williams, 154 lbs of Plainfield, NJ is 18-8-2.
Jalil Hackett remained undefeated by stopping Jose Belloso in round three of their four round welterweight bout.
The time was 2:13 for Hackett, 145 lbs of Washington, DC who is now 4-0 with three knockouts. Belloso, 145.75 lbs of Carson, CA is 4-1.
Adrian Benton remained undefeated with a six-round unanimous decision over Jose Antonio Meza in a super lightweight bout.
Benton, 129.4 lbs of Cincinnati, OH won by scores of 59-55 twice and 58-56 and is now 7-0. Meza, 130 lbs of Gomez Pueblo, MEX is 8-7.
Arnold Gonzalez won a six-round split decision over Tracey McGruder in a welterweight contest.
Gonzalez, 146.4 lbs of New York won on two cards 58-56, while McGruder took a card 59-57.
Gonzalez is 10-0. McGruder, 148.4 lbs of Rochester, NY is 6-3.
Cattino Oliver won a four-round unanimous decision over Jahdon Lewis in a super bantamweight fight.
Oliver, 118.2 lbs of Baltimore, MD won by scores of 40-36 and 39-37 twice and is now 2-0. Lewis, 118.2 lbs of North Augusta, SC is 2-2.
Julica Pavilus won a six-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Mia Ellis in a lightweight bout.
In round six, Pavilus dropped Ellis with a left hook.
Pavilius, 133.2 lbs of Port-a-Prince, HAI won by scores of 59-54, 58-55 and 57-56 and is now 3-5-1. Ellis, 134 lbs of Baltimore, MD is 4-1.
