Iron Mike Productions staged an exciting evening of boxing at The Hard Rock Casino in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Friday night. The main event saw Olympic gold medalist Felix Diaz put his undefeated record on the line against the tough Adrian Granados of Chicago in junior welterweight action.
The fight began with Diaz looking to pot shot Granados with single shots while his opponent pressed forward landing short, strong blows with both hands. The bout continued in this pattern with the younger Granados applying constant pressure in hope of testing the Dominican’s stamina. This strategy seemed to work as the 30 year old Diaz appeared to tire towards the end of round 6.
Granados began the 7th by trying to box on the outside only to be caught along the ropes and rocked midway through the stanza. Diaz continued to land the harder shots in what was his most effective round of the evening to that point. The 8th was virgin territory for Diaz but the former Olympian took advantage of a second wind as the fighters continued trading punches.
With the fight still undecided both warriors fought the 9th as if it was the last round. The action was nonstop with neither man gaining the upper hand until Diaz dropped his rival with a booming right hook right before the bell. The crowd, now whipped into a frenzy, was on its feet as the 10th began with Granados still not fully recovered.
Diaz seized the opportunity, bullying Granados against the ropes with solid bows finally dropping him for the second time with another sizzling right hook. The war finished with both fighters exchanging punches and the judges giving the nod to your winner, Felix Diaz. The win brings the Dominican’s record to 16-0 while the hard luck Granados sees his drop to 13-3-2.
In the co-feature, junior featherweights Claudio Marrero took on veteran Ira Terry in a scheduled 10 rounder. Marrero came out looking to land the lead left with Terry employing side to side movement and quick flurries. This pattern continued into the 6th until the 17-1 Marrero started to work the body with thunderous blows from both hands. The strategy worked as a strong flurry forced the referee to wave off the contest at 1:51 of the round.
Preliminary action found undefeated Ukrainian knockout sensation Ievgen Khytov improve to 7-0, all wins via knockout, when he annihilated Louis Rose in the first round with a performance that surely left everyone watching hungry to see more of the hard punching Eastern European.
