The Uzbekistan-born Super Middleweight Ronald Gavril (17-1, 13 KOs) defeated Christopher Brooker (11-2, 5 KOs) by way of TKO from Sam’s Town Live inside of Sam’s Town Hotel & Gambling Hall in Las Vegas, NV in the main event of Mayweather Promotions Sin City Showdown, the first installment of their monthly series of boxing at Sam’s Town Live.
From the second the bell rang it was non-stop action in the ring as Gavril and Brooker fought for the vacant NABF Super Middleweight title. Both fighters rolled out combination punches and uppercuts early in the rounds. Brooker fired off shots and Gavril was countering, neither fighter would let up. In the 5th round, Brooker landed a clean uppercut that had Gavril on the canvas and shook up. Gavril regrouped and returned with blows to Brooker, leading in a war of blood exchange.
It was a slugfest between these Super Middleweight fighters, which ultimately led to Gavril knocking Brooker down twice in the 10th round, defeating him and claiming the vacant NABF title.
“The guy was very very tough, but I came back to win,” said Gavril. “I trained extremely hard with my team and they prepared my body for this fight. My endurance really got me through this fight. I have to say the knockdown in the 5th round got me to refocus and get my mental toughness in gear.”
“He wouldn’t let up, but that didn’t stop me from getting the title. I only had one goal coming into this fight, and I accomplished it, I am the new champion.”
“I was extremely upset with the decision,” said Brooker. “I go hard in every fight and this fight was no different. The judges had the scores as a draw so I feel like I was going to get robbed any way. There wasn’t a three knockdown rule, so I just didn’t understand why the judges called it so pre-maturely. “The judges should have let me continue fighting, this was a title fight, not a regular match. I definitely thought the knockdown in the fifth round put me ahead, but I guess I was wrong.
“I am looking to fight anyone, whoever and whenever the next opportunity is for me to fight, I will take it. If possible, I want the re-match against Gavril.”
The co-main event featured a pair of welterweight prospects that produced an exciting matchup, ultimately leading to second round TKO after only 55 seconds by Memphis-born Ladarius Miller (12-1, 3 KOs) against Ronald Rivas (5-5-1 3 KOs).
“I am so happy with my performance,” said Miller. “I am getting better and better with each fight, and this fight proved that my hard work and consistency in the gym and with my team is working.”
“Simply put, I just wasn’t prepared like I should have been for this fight. He came out and proved to want it more than I did. I came in ready, trying to get comfortable, before I could adjust he came in with the punch.”
Sanjarbek “War” Rakhmanov (6-0, 3 KOs) kept his record in tact in a 6-round action-packed bout against then-undefeated Jonathan Dinong (5-1, 4 KOs). Both fighters kept the pressure on, but Rakhmanov proved to be the better fighter going the distance and getting the win.
Samuel Santana (8-11-3, 2 KOs) won by way of disqualification in a Super Lightweight showdown against Jose Vargas (6-1, 4 KOs), giving the young prospect his first loss. Mayweather Promotions opening bouts resulted in wins by both prospects as, Xavier Martinez (5-0 2 KOs) defeated Wilfredo Garriga (3-4-1 2 KOs) by unanimous decision in a six-round Super Featherweight match-up and Daniel Gonzalez (2-0) representing Las Vegas, NV stopped Sean Acosta (0-3-1) after four rounds of action winning by majority decision.
