At the head of a Top Rank promoted show at American Bank Centre in Corpus Christi, Jared Anderson remained unbeaten, and defended his WBC USA and WBO International heavyweight titles with a drab ten round decision win against the unambitious Ryad Merhy.
Anderson (17-0, 15 KOs) came into the bout with Merhy with all but one of his previous bouts not making the final bell, his last a fifth round stoppage of Andrii Rudenko last August.
Merhy (32-3, 26 KOS) was coming off a career-best win against Tony Yoka in Paris last December, and was expected to test Anderson, but in truth he was more content to survive for the full ten rounds.
Anderson swept to the opening round by establishing his jab, and the boos from the crowd were audible from as early as the second, with Merhy not interested in engaging.
By the fourth, Anderson had thrown nearly 200 more punches than his opponent, and although Anderson opened up more in rounds six and seven, Merhy was able to spoil and survive.
It was only in the final frame that Merhy showed any sort of ambition, throwing and missing with combination punches that were erratic at best. As the fight went to the cards, the result was academic.
17-0 🫡 pic.twitter.com/jjUARbqOkb
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) April 14, 2024
Anderson won two cards via shutout, while a third judge somehow gave Merhy a round, awarding the contest 99-91 to Anderson.
Ajagba scrapes past Vianello
It was expected that Anderson was on a collision course with Efe Ajagba (20-1, 14 KOS), and the Nigerian just about kept on track for that meeting by defending his WBC Silver heavyweight title with a split decision win over Guido Vianello (12-2-1, 10 KOS).
THE BIG BOYS ARE BRINGING IT 🍿 pic.twitter.com/sJQ1lahsie
— Top Rank Boxing (@trboxing) April 14, 2024
It was a slow start for Ajagba, as he was hurt in the second, and under heavy fire, but Vianello seemed to have shot his bolt, and Ajagba got into the argument. Two Scores of 96-94 saw Ajagba take the win, with a third judge scoring the same for the Italian.
Villa outclasses Chacon
Ruben Villa (22-1, 7 KOS) claimed the vacant WBC Silver featherweight title, as he took a wide points win against Cristian Cruz Chacon (22-7-1, 11 KOS Villa ran out a winner by two scores of 98-92, and a third at 97-93.
Rest of undercard recap
In eight round action, Robson Conceicao (18-2-1, 9 KOS) scored a seventh round win against Jose Ivan Guardado Ortiz (15-2-1, 5 KOS) in their super featherweight meeting, and at the same weight, Charley Suarez (17-0, 9 KOS) took a decision win against Luis Coria (15-7, 7 KOS).
Robson Conceicao TKOs Jose Ivan Guardado with a savage body attack in RD7 🇧🇷 #AndersonMerhy | #Boxing pic.twitter.com/3UsWco4hlc
— RINGOFHIGHLIGHTS (@ringofhighlight) April 14, 2024
Also at super featherweight, Alejandro Guerrero (13-4, 10 KOS) took an upset seventh round stoppage win against Jalan Walker (12-1-1, 10 KOS). Lightweight prospect Abdullah Mason (13-0, 11 KOS) halted Ronal Ron (14-6, 11 KOs) in the fourth round of their contest.
The sole six rounder saw welterweight John Rincon (9-0, 2 KOs) take a majority decision win against Yainel Alvarez (3-4-2, 1 KO).
In four rounders, Ali Feliz (1-0, 1 KO) debuted with a first round stoppage win at heavyweight against Anthony Woodson III (1-2, 1 KO), and Juilan Delgado (1-0, 0 KOs) also made his bow, taking a points win against Juan C Tamez (1-1, 0 KOs).
