In the main event of the afternoon edition of NBC Fight Night, cruiserweights Thabiso “The Rock” Mchunu (17-1, 11 KOs) and Garrett “The Ultimate Warrior” Wilson (13-8-1, 7 KOs) faced off in a clash between Mchunu’s southpaw style and Wilson’s wild aggression.
Thabiso landed some clean shots and Wilson countered to no avail. The fifth round was slow with Wilson chasing down Mchunu and Wilson finally landing some shots. The ninth round started off with a bang, both fighters were trading big punches.
The crowd began chanting for Wilson and the action started to pick up in the final round with both fighters coming out swinging. In the tenth, the referee deducted a point from Mchunu for holding, but it did not matter as Mchunu won a unanimous decision victory (96-93, 99-90 and 98-91).
After the fight Mchunu said:
“First of all thank God. Thank you for supporting me to all my fans in South Africa. My trainer, Sean, and my corner for getting me this victory smooth and easy. I would like to thank all of you for coming to the fight. I had it in mind it was going to be tough, really tough. It was as tough as I expected. He is a strong guy. I knew after three rounds it was going to be tough but then I nearly knocked him out.
“I knew it was going to be tough and I just can’t go for the knockout. I knew it was going to go for the distance. I boxed him. I showed I can think in the ring. I’m smart. I’m fast and elusive.” He added, “I want the WBC belt, there is a guy from Poland [Krzysztof Wlodarczyk] who got it so I am going for him. After that I will fight the other guys like Marco Huck [current WBO champion] and [Yoan Pablo] Hernandez.”
“He’s fast. I didn’t quite listen to my corner like I was supposed to. I dropped the ball on this one but even if he wins that world title, I ain’t done,” explained Wilson.
“I will be right back. It is just the beginning. I may not have gotten the NABF this time but I am going to be back as long as he is willing to rematch me. I wasn’t listening to my corner and I paid for it. His defense was pretty good. His defense was really good and I couldn’t figure it out the way I wanted to. He kept leaning down and I kept ending up over top of him. I have been making adjustments and hopefully we get a rematch going on. I am going at that belt. Let’s keep it going.”
Mchunu connected for for 54% (105 of 195) of his power punches whereas Wilson only connected for 23% (54 of 231). Also Mchunu (53 of 211 for 25%) threw more than two times as many jabs as Wilson (18 of 108 for 17%). The total punch comparison also favored Mchunu (158 of 406 for 39% compared to 72 of 339 for 21%).
Starting off the broadcast was ten-round battle between undefeated lightweight Karl “Dynamite” Dargan (17-0, 9 KOs) and Angino “The Nightmare” Perez (16-6, 14 KOs). The bout started slow with both fighters feeling each other out. Dargan was knocked down in the second and got up with a couple of hard shots at Perez.
Dargan knocked down Perez in the fifth but he managed to make it back to his feet. “Dynamite” made quick work of Perez after that and knocked him out with a face first fall a few seconds later.
In the fight Dargan connected for 42& of his punches (71 of 170) whereas Perez only connected for 17% (38 of 230). Although both fighters threw nearly the same number of power punches (96 for Dargan and 87 for Perez) Dargan connected for almost twice as many of them (50 as compared to 27 for Perez) for 52% when compared to 31% for Perez.
“I knew he could punch and I knew he got power. He had about a 90% knockout ratio but I don’t care who it is. He caught me with a good shot but I wasn’t hurt. It was like a buzz. I got back up there. I guess he thought he could pressure me so I just basically lured him in,” explained Dargan.
“Him coming forward and me being able to step in the middle of it put more power on me. After the first knockdown my corner said just don’t come straight for the head; go for the body because he doesn’t really expect it.” He added, “Of course I don’t see anyone in my division I don’t see why I can’t beat them. I have the dedication so that I can go up against any of them. I use my ability when it is needed.”
After the live NBC broadcast middleweights Anthony Everett (0-2) and David Wilson (4-0) met for four rounds. Wilson remained undefeated with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36. Everett is still looking for his first professional victory.
The final fight before the NBC broadcast featured Piotr Apostol (1-0) of Atlantic City, NJ and Tyrell White (0-2) of Queens, NY for four rounds of wild lightweight action. Apostol managed to squeak out the split decision victory. The fight was close with two judges scoring the bout 39-37 for Apostol and one judge scoring the bout 40-36 for White.
In a lightweight rematch Joseph “Chip” Perez (10-3-2, 3 KOs) and Agustine “The Dancing Jaguar” Mauras (6-0-3, 3 KOs) met for six rounds. Perez and Mauras’ previous fight, back in July of this year, ended in a draw. Both men started the fight aggressively. In this action-packed bout both fighters gave their all and the crowd was pumped to watch these two warriors battle it out for another brutal six rounds. Ultimately, the judges scored the bout 58-56 for Mauras, 58-56 for Perez and 57-57 for a split draw.
“I thought I fought more aggressively this time, explained Perez. “I thought I got the win both times. I am not taking anything away from him and I have nothing against him but I thought I got the win.”
Mauras added, “We need an eight-rounder to make the determination. He came to fight and I always come to fight. I will fight him again or anyone else.”
Undefeated light heavyweight Sullivan Barrera (13-0, 8 KOs) of Miami, FL knocked out Eric Watkins (10-8-1, 5 KOs) of Harris, NY. Barrera was leading the entire bout but Watkins managed to hold his own. Sullivan managed to finally take down Watkins at 0:24 in the sixth round. After the fight Barrera said, “I feel great. I am very happy with the new team. I am very happy to be training in Big Bear Lake. I want to thank Main Events and NBC for putting this fight on.” Barrera remains undefeated after his first fight with his new trainer, Abel Sanchez.
In the first fight of the afternoon super middleweight Charles “The Truth” Foster (6-0, 3 KOs) of New Haven, CT made quick work of Robert Jackson (0-2) of Hampton, VA stopping him at 1:51 in the first round.
