BROOKLYN–Miguel Cotto made an emphatic statement that was heard from Brooklyn to Guadalajara, Mexico as he defended the WBC Middleweight title with a fourth round stoppage over Daniel Geale at Barclays Center. The win now clears the way for a mega showdown in the fall with Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Cotto was impressive with his jab early in the fight and started mixing the his vaunted left hook to the body. Cotto clearly won the first three rounds.
In round four, Cotto landed a massive left hook to the head that sent Geale sprawling on his back. Geale was clearly shaken up but tried to fight back. Cotto jumped on his hurt prey and landed a huge flurry of punches. Geale tried to fight back but a straight right to the top of the head put Geale down for a 2nd time. Geale got to his feet but referee Harvey Dock stopped the fight at 1:28 of round four.
Zhang Zhilei scored three knockdowns en route to a 4-round unanimous decision beatdown of Glen Thomas.
Zhilei dominated and scored knockdowns in rounds one, three and four (where Thomas took a knee on his own).
Zhilei, 262.4 lbs of Henan, China is now 4-0 with 3 knockdowns. Thomas, 215 lbs of East Stroudsburg, PA is now 1-4.
Junior Younan scored a 2nd round stoppage over Mike Sawyer in a scheduled 4-round Light Heavyweight bout.
Younan dropped Sawyer in the opening seconds with a big flurry that was finished off with 3 hard lefts. The continued hard hooks caused swelling under his right eye. In round two, Younan scored a 2nd knockdown from a left to the top of the head. Younan was relantless with a follow up barrage and the fight was stopped at 2:29
Younan, 172.4 lbs of Brooklyn, NY is now 7-0 with 6 knockouts. Sawyer, 178 lbs of Orlando, FL is now 6-4.
Dustin Fleischer needed just 66 seconds to take out Kareem Miller in their scheduled 4-round Welterweight bout.
Fleischer landed a huge combination and the fight was stopped.
Fleischer, 142.6 lbs of Monmouth Beach, Nj is now 2-0 with 2 knockouts. Miller, 140.8 lbs of Eden, NC is now 1-2.
Angel Luna scored a mild upset by scoring a 6-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Jose Lopez in a Jr. Lightweight bout.
Luna dropped Lopez in round’s two and five but was deducted a point in round four for hitting behind the head.
Luna. 125.8 lbs of New York, NY won by scores of 57-54 and 58-53 twice and is now 11-1-1. Lopez, 126 lbs of Carolina, PR is now 15-1-1.
Shawn Simpson worked hard to get the stoppage in his pro debut and he did at 2:05 of the 4th and final round of his Jr. Featherweight bout with Damon Simon.
Simpson unloaded some heavy shots that finally put Simon down to the canvas and the fight was stopped.
Simpson, 119.6 lbs of Chicago is 1-0 with 1 knockout. Simon, 119.6 lbs of Beaumont, TX is 0-2.
