On a night when undefeated records fell by the wayside, Mariusz Wach made sure at least one fighter escaped with his perfect record intact.
Defending his World Boxing Council (WBC) International heavyweight title for the first time, Wach stopped pesky veteran Jason Gavern (21-9-4) at the 1:03 mark of the sixth round Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena to retain the belt and improve to 26-0 with 14 knockouts. Ranked No. 8 in the WBC, Wach knocked down Gavern in each of the first two rounds, but the Chicago native – ranked 29th in the WBC – fought back in the third and fourth and brought the raucous to its feet before Wach forced the stoppage in the closing minutes of the sixth.
The Wach-Gavern heavyweight showdown, schedule for 12 rounds, was the main event of “November Reign,” promoted by Jimmy Burchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports in association with Global Boxing and Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing. The show featured two upsets with Rick Dawson of New Haven, Conn., and former North American Boxing Organization (NABO) middleweight champion Patrick Majewski each receiving their first career loss before “The Viking” restored order in the main event.
Gavern, a last-minute replacement for former world champion Oliver McCall, who was originally scheduled to face Wach, promised to put on a show for the fans and he delivered, unloading on the 6-foot-7 champion with reckless abandon in the third and fourth rounds and even taunting his opponent along the way. Wach, as always, remained calm and regained control of the fight in the sixth. He stunned Gavern with a flurry along the ropes early in the round and unloaded again with an overhand right that pushed Gavern back several feet and forced the referee to mercifully stop the bout.
Veteran Jose Miguel Torres (23-5, 20 KOs) of Miami scored the first upset of the night, knocking out the previously-unbeaten Majewski of Atlantic City at the 1:16 mark of the sixth round to capture the North American Boxing Federation (NABF) and NABO titles. Majewski (17-1) dominated the first five rounds and had control in the sixth until Torres landed a short right hook to the chin that sent Majewski to the canvas for good.
Torres escaped with his second consecutive knockout victory and his first win in a title fight; he lost to then-unbeaten Joe Greene in 2008 with the North American Boxing Association (NABA) light middleweight title on the line.
Another upset occurred in the first swing bout of the evening as Borngod Washington (3-9, 1 KO) of Queens recorded his third victory in his last four fights and first career knockout by stopping Dawson at the 58-second mark of the fourth round.
Dawson dominated the first two rounds, but Washington fought back midway through the third to gain control of the fight. Early in the fourth round, Washington caught Dawson with his back to the ropes and unleashed a flurry that caused the referee to stop the bout.
The show began with a back-and-forth battle between New Haven junior featherweights Nate Green and Josh Crespo with Green earning a unanimous-decision victory (40-36, 40-36, 39-37) in his professional debut. Crespo dropped to 0-1-1. Springfield cruiserweight Jose Torres rebounded from a loss in his pro debut in July with a dominant performance, stopping newcomer Francwa Russell (0-1) of Chicago at the 1:17 mark of the third round.
Lightning-fast super featherweight prospect Kamil Laszczyk of North Bergen, N.J., remained unbeaten with a first-round knockout win over Chris Montoya (2-5) of Salt Lake City, Utah. Laszczyk (5-0, 4 KOs) overpowered Montoya from the opening bell, dropping within the first 18 seconds courtesy of a hard right hook. Montoya made it to his feet, but didn’t last much longer; Laszczyk ended the fight with another overpowering right hand at the 36-second mark.
Heavyweight Artur Szpilka of Wieliczka, Poland also kept his perfect record intact, rebounding from a surprise knockdown in the opening round and stopping David Saulsberry (7-4) of Greenville, Ky., one minute into the second round.
