The main event of NBC Sports Fight Night was a ten-round heavyweight battle between Vyacheslav “Czar” Glazkov (18-0-1, 11 KOs) from Lugansk, Ukraine against Derric “El León” Rossy (29-9, 14 KOs) of Medford, NY.
The first round started slow with both fighters trying to feel each other out. Both guys ended the second trading very good shots, keeping the fight close. Rossy took the third round with ease. The next four rounds were close, with both fighters trading big shots. Rossy looked tired at the start of the eighth but continued to hang in there with Glazkov.
Czar suffered a cut below his left eye at the end of the eighth. Glazkov dominated Rossy in the ninth, but Rossy managed to stay on his feet until the final bell. Glazkov managed to pull out a majority decision victory with one judge scoring the bout 95-95, and the other two scoring the bout 96-94 and 98-92 in favor of Glazkov. After the fight, Czar said, “My hand was bothering me. It wasn’t broken, but it did not recover as well as I had hoped. It is not an excuse but it was still bothering me from my fight with Adamek.”
This was Glazkov’s first fight with his new trainer, John David Jackson. About the adjustment Czar said, “It takes some time to adjust to each other. I feel a difference to the better side but, of course, it takes some time to adjust. I am thinking in terms of the best.”
Rossy said, “I am disappointed. It is hard to get the words together. I am trying to find out what they were looking at. There is no accountability. You are messing with peoples’ lives. I take my hat off to Glazkov. I know I won that fight. When it is very askew you have to wonder, where is the accountability?”
In the middle bout of the evening, Robert “The Butcher” Berridge (24-2-1, 20 KOs) of Albany, New Zealand and Vasily “The Professor” Lepikhin (16-0, 9 KOs) squared off for a scheduled 12 round fight for the PABA and WBO Oriental Light Heavyweight Titles. Lepikhin started off early with a lot of hard shots to the body. Berridge was trying to get inside, but Lepikhin used his longer reach to his advantage to keep Berridge at bay. Both fighters were trading big shots in the middle of the ring in the second round. Then Vasily knocked down Berridge with a perfectly timed punch by Lepikhin. The bell ended the round and saved Berridge.
In the third, Berridge came out swinging wildly. Lepikhin’s lips started to bleed in the third. Berridge got Lepikhin against the ropes, landing some key shots. Lepikhin knocked down Berridge to start the fifth. Berridge got back up and “The Professor” knocked him to the canvas again. Finally, after another flurry of punches from Vasily in the corner, the referee stopped the fight at 1:04 of round five. “The Professor” remains undefeated. Both fighters threw nearly the same number of punches (Lepikhin 210 and Berridge 233), but Lepikhin connected for twice as many total punches (78, 37%) as his opponent (39, 17%). Berridge could not connect with his jab, landing only 2 of 98 (2%), whereas “The Professor” landed 20 of 99 (20%). After the fight “The Professor” said, “I am very happy for winning my debut fight here in the United States. I fought a tough opponent and I am looking for my next big fight in the United States.”
The NBCSN Fight Night telecast started with undefeated heavyweight sensation Joseph Parker (10-0, 9 KOs) of Auckland, New Zealand against Keith “Untouchable” Thompson (7-3, 4 KOs) of Birmingham, AL in six rounds of action. Parker dominated early but Thompson was able to hold his own against the taller Parker in the beginning. Then Parker knocked Thompson down in the third. After Thompson got back on his feet, Parker continued his attack and Thomspon hit the ground again. That is when the referee called the fight at 2:41 in the third.
After the fight Parker said, “I felt a little bit flat but I am happy for the victory. I am happy to fight here in the states. He looked liked he was tired and I was ready was to go. I would like to be fighting a top ten fighter by the end of the year.” Parker out-boxed Thompson, connecting for 57 of 176 total punches (32%), whereas Thompson only connected for 14 of 66 total punches (21%). Parker connected for more than four times as many power punches, 37 of 74 (50%) as Thompson 8 of 33 (24%).
Featherweights Frankie Garriga (0-2-2) of Bronx, NY and Luis Acevedo (1-0-1) met for four rounds for the final undercard bout before the live NBCSN Fight Night telecast began. Acevedo defeated Garriga via unanimous decision (40-36, 40-36 & 39-37).
In an all-local clash of light welterweights Ismael Serrano (2-1) of Bethlehem, PA and Jonathan Williams (0-3) of Allentown, PA met for four rounds. Serrano won via split decision with the judges scoring the fight 39-37, 40-36 and 37-39. Afterwards, Serrano said, “I thought it was a draw. It was good fight. We knew each other very well. We sparred together many times. He was just trying to out-box me.”
Heavyweights Tyrell Wright (6-0, 4 KOs) of Jersey City, NJ and Randy Easton (2-3-1, 2 KOs) of Sansbury, PA collided for four rounds. Wright defeated Easton via UD with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36. Wright remains undefeated.
The first fight of the evening was a light heavyweight rematch between Lamont “Too Smooth” Capers (4-5) of Brooklyn, NY and Khalib “Bigfoot” Whitmore (6-0, 5 KOs) of Philadelphia, PA. Both men made their pro debuts against each other June 15, 2013. The first time around Whitmore defeated Capers via unanimous decision in four rounds. This time Bigfoot knocked down Capers in the second and finished the job with a TKO in the fourth. Whitmore said, “I want to thank Main Events, my trainer Naazim Richardson, and NBCSN. I felt good. There were a couple of things I wanted to work on but didn’t get a chance to. There was a lot of holding.”
