Morrell Jr. Destroys Cazares in 1st
David Morrell Jr. defended the WBA Super Middleweight title with a vicious first round stoppage over Mario Cazares at the Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Morrell landed a straight left that stunned Cazares and that was quickly followed by another straight left that plummeted Cazares under the bottom ropes and the fight was immediately stopped at 2:32.
Morrell, 167 1/2 lbs of Minneapolis is 5-0 with four knockouts. Cazares, 166 1/2 lbs of Culican, MEX is 12-1.
“I didn’t expect that to end so quickly,” said Morrell. “I thought it would be more like a five or six round fight. However, once Cazares stepped in the ring, I noticed that he was not ready to fight on my level. He wasn’t ready for this kind of test or this level of fight.”
On the devastating knockout, Morrell said, “When I saw the opening, I took him out. When I hit him, I saw his legs wobble and I knew he was gone, completely out.”
“I’m ready for anyone at 168 pounds and now the world can see it,” continued Morrell. “I would love to fight Caleb Plant. I’m ready to fight Plant. He’s an excellent boxer, but I’m ready to go.”
Glanton Decisions Apochi in a war
In a 10-round cruiserweight war, Brandon Glanton won a 10-round split decision over Efe Apochi in a battle of undefeated fighters.
The two traded hard and thudding power shots from bell to bell. Each guy took the lead in various times of the bout. In round six, Glanton landed a hard left and right on the ropes that badly hurt Apochi for a knockdown. That proved to be the difference as Glanton took card by a 95-94 score. Apochi took a card 96-93.
Glanton was 187 of 654 punches; Apochi was 183 of 721.
Glanton is now 14-0. Apochi is 11-1.
“I knew it was a close fight because at the very end he didn’t hurt me, but I staggered,” said Glanton. “We always talk about balance in the gym, though. I got the split decision because balance is something that we constantly work on. He didn’t hurt me, that’s why I was able to keep fighting.
“Thank God the judges saw it the right way,” continued Glanton. “That knockdown is something we worked on in the gym. I hope the boxing world sees what my coach is doing. The small details, the intricate things, make the difference in a fight like this. All the little details that he schools me on is what he told me would be the difference in this fight, and I’ll be damned if it wasn’t.”
“What can I say?” asked Apochi. “I thought I won the fight. I used my jab, showed some heart, had some good movement in there, but I’m not the judges. I don’t know what they saw, but I thought that I did what I had to do. He’s a tough guy. I won’t take anything away from him. He took some tough shots and he was still there.”
On the possibility of a rematch, Glanton said, “If they want the rematch, then I’ll do it again. I think I’ve proven what I needed to prove, but it’s easier the second time.”
“Of course, I want a rematch with Glanton,” continued Apochi. “I want a rematch with him right now!”
All Rivera Decisions Juarez
All Rivera scored a 10-round majority decision over previously undefeated Omar Juarez in a junior welterweight bout.
It was an action packed fight that was fought at close quarters. Rivera won the fight on the strength of a 9th round knockdown as he won by scores of 95-93, 95-94 and 95-95.
Rivera, 142 1/2 lbs of Bobon, PHL is 22-5. Juarez, 142 1/2 lbs of Brownsville, TX is 11-1.
Rivera landed 123 of 428 punches; Juarez was 152 of 354.
“I was confident that I was going to get the decision,” said Rivera. “I was blocking a lot of the shots that Juárez was throwing. I was landing the more powerful punches. Juárez was doing good work in there, but we were landing the more effective shots. I feel like when I hurt him I maybe could have done a little more to get him out of there early and avoid the decision. But he’s a stronger fighter and I respect his talent.”
Juárez said, “I honestly thought that I did enough to get the win. I did get knocked down. There was one round where I stayed in there and took a couple hits, but I felt like I was the smarter fighter in there. I adjusted well and I thought I did well over all. Almost all of the greats have losses and I know I’m going to be great one day. I just have to fight through this adversity.”
On their professional experience levels, Rivera said, “I’ve been in the ring 27 times now professionally, and I think Juárez is still a kid who’s developing his skills. I’ve fought some of the best fighters around. I’ve won belts. So, I definitely think my experience played a difference tonight.”
“He was the better man today,” Juárez concluded. “I’m not going to take anything away from him. He’s a hard fighter. He’s from the Philippines, which has a lot of strong fighters. I respect him a lot, but I’ll be back.”
When asked about the knockdown, Rivera said, “We actually worked on that shot in camp. We also worked on the follow-up sequence. So, when it landed my corner wanted me to take it to the body to finish him, but he’s a tough fighter.
“I’m here for any 140-pound fighter that wants to step in there with me,” concluded Rivera.
Nathaniel Gallimore won a 10-round majority decision over previously undefeated Leon Lawson III in a junior middleweight bout.
Gallimore landed 78 of 356 punches; Lawson 66 of 302.
Gallimore, 153 1/4 lbs of Chicago, IL won by scores of 97-93, 96-94 and 95-95 and is now 22-5-1. Lawson, 153 1/4 lbs of Flint. MI is 14-1.
Atif Oberlton remained undefeated by stopping Jasper McCargo in round five of a scheduled eight-round light heavyweight bout.
In round four, Oberlton, landed a two lefts that were followed by a cleanup right hook that dropped McCargo.
In round five, it was a hard left hand to the body that dropped McCargo in the corner, and the fight was stopped at 44 seconds.
Oberlton, 175 lbs of Philadelphia is 3-0 with three knockouts. McCargo, 177 lbs of Richmond, VA is 4-2-2.
Travon Marshall won an entertaining four-round unanimous decision over Ruben Torres in a super welterweight contest.
In round two, Marshall dropped Torres with a left hook.
Marshall landed 70 of 210 punches; Torres was 48 of 219.
Marshall, 153 3/4 lbs of Landover, MD won by scores of 40-35 on all cards, and is now 2-0. Torres, 151 3/4 lbs of Sacramento, CA is 4-2.