Providence, Rhode Island hosted two World Title fights on another Matchroom USA/DAZN offering on Saturday night.
Hometown fighter, Demetrius Andrade topped the bill, and did pretty much as he pleased in keeping his WBO Middleweight Title against the limited Maciej Sulecki.
Andrade made an immediate statement, knocking Sulecki down within a minute with a left hook that landed high on the top of the Pole’s head, leaving him on unsteady legs. It was refreshing to see Andrade engaging so early on, and was certainly impressing with frantic work.
Sulecki was struggling with the awkward angles that Andrade was boxing at, and he was having to box on the retreat, with limited success.
Once it became apparent that Andrade wasn’t going to be troubled by Sulecki, the action died down, and “Boo Boo” was allowed to box in his normal way, easily racking up the points against a limited opponent.
In the end, it was a routine, shut out win for Andrade, and he easily retained his Title with a 120-107 verdict across the board, with the contest not the hardest to score.
Andrade repeatedly called out Saul “Canelo” Alvarez post fight, but it remains to be seen if that would really be a viable option for either in the near future.
Joseph Parker made a Matchroom and USA debut, and finally walloped Alex Leapai to defeat in ten dominant rounds.
Parker looked intent on making a statement, and quickly went to work, trapping Leapai in the corner with weighty shots within the first minute of the contest.
Parker was loose and relaxed, and his right hand, especially the overhand variation was particularly impressive. The action was repetitive and one side, with Parker doing pretty much as he pleased, without ever being troubled himself.
With six rounds in the bank, Parker stepped up the pressure in the seventh, but Lepai, although tiring, was refusing to budge. It was becoming painful to watch, with Parker far superior to Leapai, and in complete control, but unable to up the ante enough to finish the fight. In the end, Parker forced the stoppage, but it came at an unexpected time.
Round ten saw Parker land with a right and then a left to the head of Leapai, and the referee decided that enough was enough, with no towel from Leapai’s corner seemingly going to be forthcoming.
Kal Yafai kept hold of his WBA Super Flyweight Title with a simple enough, wide points win over Norbelto Jiminez.
Yafai put together some impressive work from the off, dominating the first round using fast hands and coming in and out of range to good effect. Jimenez was struggling to keep Yafai at bay, and had to resort to spoiling tactics in the second as he struggled to gain a foothold. It was difficult for Kal to flow in the contest, as most of his good work was spoiled by Jiminez, who was docked a point in the fourth by referee, Danny Schaivone for excessive holding.
Yafai strayed low at the start of round five, and the Midlander was also cut on the top of his head following a clash of heads. This encouraged Jiminez, who finally came out of his shell and began to come forward with decent combinations. Yafai was sensing a weakness the body in Jiminez, and began to make some inroads with some solid blows in the sixth.
Jiminez wasn’t posing any significant threat, and Yafai was prepared to walk through his punches in order to have success of his own. A right hook and a left was too low again from Yafai in the eighth, and again Jiminez was forced to take a breather. The final third of the fight was difficult to score, with neither man really landing anything clean on the other.
With just over half a minute remaining in the final round, Yafai landed with a cuffing left hook that floored Jiminez, who felt the blow was a push, but the count was made. This put the rubber stamp on victory for Kal, with scores of 119-107, 118-108 and 117-109 seeing him retain his belt.
