The undercard of the June 27, 2021 David Morrell, Jr. vs. Mario Casarez secondary WBA super middleweight title fight was a high quality presentation with lots of talent on display.
Alantez Fox, Atlanta, GA, opened the night, improving his record to 27-2-1 (13 KOs) by making short work of Mannny Woods, Saint Petersberg, FL, whose record falls to 17-12-1 (6 KOs).
In second fight of the night, Travon Marshall of Capitol Height, MD won a unanimous decision over Ruben Torres, Sacramento, CA in a super welterweight match.
In the third contest of the night, Atif Oberlton, Philadelphia, PA knocked out Jasper McCargo in the 5th round of a scheduled 8 rounder. McCargo couldn’t deal with Oberlton’s power and was particularly vulnerable to a persistent right hook from the southpaw stance.
Fourth fight, super welterweights, 10 rounds. Leon Lawson, II of Flint, MI faced Nathaniel Gallimore, Kingston, Jamaica. Lawson took control in the first round, landing good right hands behind the jab, as Gallimore tried to slip to his right with a wide-legged stance and work his way in. Gallimore came back in the third, though, slipping in with good head movement, pushing Lawson back and landing an uppercut or two, in what seemed to be a change in momentom of the fight. Gallimore continued this rhythm in the 4th, appearing to even up the score in the fight as he landed some very effective shots that had to wear psychologically on Lawson. In the 5th round, Lawson got his jab back in order and seemed to edge it out, stopping Gallimore’s momentum. Gallimore began the 6th coming forward with body and head combinations, attempting to get back his momentum. Lawson came back at the end of the round, landing more punches from his taller range instead of letting Gallimore force the fight in close, so the round was hard to score. At this point the fight was becoming very competitive and exciting. The fight was very competitive right up to the closing bell. While Lawson continued landing good right hands and left hooks off of his jab, Gallimore landed punishing body shots and close to the end of the 10th and final round landed a clean right hand that staggered Lawson visible and excited the crowd as they reached the final bell. When the final scores were tallied up, Gallimore won by a majority decision.
Fifth fight at super lightweight, southpaw All Rivera of the Philippines took on Omar Juarez from Brownsville, TX. In this scheduled 10 round fight, Juarez seemed to get the nod in the first round as he landed good body shots and timed a solid right hand to the chin of Rivera, although Rivera held his own. Juarez, however, continued to take progressive control in the second round, landing clear jabs and finding the mark with his left hook over the southpaw’s right-hand guard, following that connection with hard left hands to the liver and right hand body shots. Towards the end of the round Rivera landed some soled shots upstairs with some punbtuation to the body, reminding Juarez that this is a real competition. A determined Rivera brought the fight to Juarez in the third, landing some good combinations by the middle of the round, Juarez countering back with body and head shots and maneuvering around the ring. He manipulated Rivera with his foot movement and evaded punishment. In the fourth round Juarez really took control, seeming to hurt Rivera against the ropes, resulting in Rivera grabbing him around the waist and pushing him forward and Juarez grabbing back in defense, bringing them both to the ground. Upon resumption of the action, Juarez landed effectively the liver followed by the hook to the head. He landed cleanly with a right hand-left hook combination, followed by the left uppercut to the liver-left hook to the head combination, landing a series of damaging blows to end the round. Juarez continued landing effectively in the 5th, while Rivera began landing more solid blows of his own, keeping the fight competitive. Juarez seemed to the the victor of the round, however. By the sixth round, it seemed that although Rivera competetively landed strong punches, they were just not enough as Juarez’s movement was too good and he was able to maneu,ver his head and place his feat well enough to land solid punches that were keeping unshakeable control of the fight. Juarez’s dominance was clear in the 7th. Rivera landed a right hook Jaurez did not see in 9th, dropping him in a flash knockdown and also hitting him with the straight left hand while he was donw. Juarez survived the round and boxed competitively, but obviously lost the round by an extra point due to the knockdown. Juarez returned to his excellent head movement and footwork, landing lead and counter shots, appearing to cruise into victory. Rivera won a majority decision, one judge scoring is 95-95 and the other two scoring the fight for Rivera. Apparently the judges thought Rivera’s competitive effort was more effective. It didn’t seeem, though, that he landed more punches or did more damage..
Sixth fight, cruiserweight, Brandon Glanton, Atlanta, GA fought Efetobor Apochi of Orogon, Nigeria. The first three rounds were a hard fought back and forth. Glanton continuously came forward and landed hard blows. Aphochi was effecive with the jab. By the middle of the third round both fighters were visibly weathered but battling hard. Apochi was landing upercuts and hooks to the body and head and Glanton was plodding foward and unleashing punishment of his own. Glanton apeared to be in control of the fight. 4th round Apochi, however, continued to battle back, continusly landing a jab that set up combinations to the body and head. Glanton, however, landed hard punches in between Apochi’s combinations. Just when it seemed Apochi may have won the 6th round with a slight nod, he got caught in the corner with a left hook from Glandon that slumped him on the ropes and was scored as a knockdonw. The 7th was a bit more competitive but it seemed to be in Glandon’s favor. Glandon came on strong at the beginning of the 8th, with Apochi battling back gallantly. Glandon seemed to be too accurate with the right hand, however, landing it flushly to the jaw whenever Apochi seemed to be seriously asserting himself. Both fighters battled hard through the 9th, Glandon appearing to secure a decision with a victorious 10th round, although it looked a little precarious as he was wobbled by a right hand and a follow-up combination from Apochi just before the bell. Glandon won by a split decision in a very crowd pleasing fight.
Post main event, light heavyweight, Arsenio Hall, Columbia, SC fought a 4 rounder against Angel Chavez, Merred, CA. The first round appeared to go to Hall as he landed the jab and moved to set up effective combination. Chavez came continuously forward, though, throwing left and right uppercuts to the body and setting up his straight right hand with jabs to the head. He finally found his target with a damaging combination at the end of the second round that signigificantly bloodied Hall’s nose just before the bell. While Hall continued boxing well in the third, landing jabs and connecting well with the right uppercut, Chavez still punished his body He made Hall, who was visibly tired, also miss his punches. He found the mark with his left hand, too, showing Hall he could jab just as effectively. With head movement in the fourth round, Chavez was landing left hooks and following up with right hands. As Hall, who was visibly tired, through his own punches, Chaves made him miss. Chavez flurried in the last ten seconds to finish strongly. Angel Chavez won by unanimous decision.
Final fight, super lightweight Joseph Francisco, Jacksboro, TN, fought Minneapolis’ VeShawn Owens. Owens threw a double left hook, the second one landing and dropping Francisco. Upon rising Francisco engaged Owens, who dominated exchanges by landing body shots and uppercuts as well as left hooks to the head. Also, much different than past performances, the always aggressive Owens was pumping the left jab rapidly and landing it at will. Francisco made the fight closer in the second round, although Owens kept control. In the second, Francisco picked up his level of agression, charging forward but Owens continuously landed good body shots as well as uppercuts and left hooks to the head. Owens hurt Francisco at the end of the third, buckling his knees and following up with a barrage of punches but not putting him down. The fight was finally stopped near the end of the fourth round, Owens winning via TKO. at 2:38.
