Danny Garcia vs. Brandon Rios: Prelims Results Recap

RODRIGUEZ DISPATCHES THOMPSON VIA DECISION

The main bout of the preliminaries featured a light heavyweight match scheduled for 10 rounds as the seasoned Edwin Rodriguez (30-2) met Lionell Thompson (19-5) ‎. Rodriguez turned it on in the second half of the bout with pin point accuracy after boxing and sliding his way across the squared circle for the first 5 rounds. Thompson did allot of following and posing instead of cutting off the ring and letting his hands go. Rodriguez picked up the pace as well as confidence as the rounds trickled away and he showed his greater ring savvy by out working as well as out thinking his Buffalo, New York opponent. Once the dust was cleared the judges awarded Edwin Rodriguez the unanimous decision victory with scores of 96-94, 97-93 and 97-93

Rodriguez continues his momentum and work back up the ladder of contention in a weight class whose king is Adonis Stevenson and Sergey Kovalev. ‎Either man would more than happily match up with Rodriguez who tonight showed that he still has plenty in the tank on his way to title contention.

Ladarius Miller (15-1) vs. Carlos Padilla (16-7-1)

(Lightweight Bout – 8 Rounds)

“Memphis” Miller fired on al cylinders tonight while pumping his jab and setting up multiple combinations and punches as he slipped Padilla’s offense and side-stepped the Columbia’s over commitment to his shots. ‎Whether he was over reaching or looping the punches , Padilla just could not connect in the opening round of their battle as Miller landed almost at will during those 3 minutes.

Going into the 2nd Round Padilla made little to no adjustments and applied the same shots; wide and loopy. Miller stayed composed and fired right up the middle, patiently waiting for the perfect punishing shot to land on his foe. He found it early in the 2nd Round as he hit a nice angle and caught his man flush, connecting with a beautiful straight left hand right down the pike that sent Padilla unto his backside on the canvas. He popped back up quickly but the deflated look on his face and over matched demeanor ‎prompted the referee to alertly call a stop to the action.

RESULTS: Ladarius “Memphis” Miller stops Carlos Padilla via TKO at (2:04) ‎ of Round 2.

Andres Cortes (7-0) vs. Fatiou Fassinou (8-9)

(Lightweight Bout – 6 Rounds)

Unbeaten up and comer, Cortes kept his “0” intact ‎as he jabbed, slipped and countered Fassinou with lightning fast straights and hooks over the course of 18 minutes. More importantly he never lost his cool and remained poised rather than be dragged into a fire fight which was likely the Benin native’s intentions. Fassinou flew from one side of the ring and bounced back to the other desparately lunging at his man behind a long jab and longer straights and crosses. He rarely set up anything as he opted to power punch his way to something meaningful or tie up in the corner then reset with the same cross that landed him in the clinch once again.

On the other hand, Cortes landed hooks cleanly on the inside ‎and circled out away from harm. His footwork was stellar and enabled him to dodge any bullets from Fassinou. To his credit, the Benin representative had great conditioning just fell short of landing that game changer and his desperation to do so telegraphed his entire arsenal as the 6 rounds progressed with Cortes staying in charge from just ourside of range and sticking and moving when needed.

RESULTS: Andres Cortes remains undefeated beating Fatiou Fassinou via Unanimous Decision with scores of 60-54 all across the board.

Brian Gallegos (6-1) vs. Sulaiman Segawa (9-0)

(Super Featherweight Bout – 6 Rounds)

Gallegos took on Segawa in a battle of skill and will. The skill however, was all Segawa as he stalked and waited to land clean blows while Gallegos posted and waited to land a game changing shot. The California native constantly looked for one big shot to sway the momentum back his way and didn’t step on the gas until the second half of the bout. Meanwhile, Segawa went to work using his jab and inside game to put his man in a box. He circled and hooked or mixed his attack up by going to the head and body then body again. He stayed composed in the pocket putting his combinations together while Gallegos constantly searched for that big punch, giving away important rounds as he posed too much and got away from his offense.

His downfall truly became his desperate hunt for the fight ending shot and as he came up short, Segawa capitalized with solid ‎counters and work on the inside.

RESULTS: ‎ Sulaiman Segawa remains unbeaten handing TMT representative, Brian Gallegos ‎his first defeat via Split Decision with scores of 58-56, 56-58 and 58-56.

Jonathan Esquivel (7-0) vs. Cameron Burroughs (4-3)

(Middleweight Bout – 4 Rounds)

Esquivel and Burroughs traded heavy leather at close range as they stood in the pocket. ‎Burroughs did his best to pot shot and counter his man’s punches but the power advantage clearly went to Esquivel. The undefeated Californian’s shots seemed to rock his foe each and every time he landed cleanly, there was almost a pause every time as Burroughs thought about what to do next. His body swayed from one side to the other as a result of his man’s punches for the first 3 minutes of their battle.

Late in Round 1 he did the disservice of backing up against the ‎ropes which let Esquivel walk him down and rake him with a big overhand right that hurt his man bad. Going into Round 2 Esquivel took over as he stood right in front of his man and landed hooks almost at will. Burroughs threw some heat back but, for every 3 that ‘El Diamante’ or ‘the Diamond’ landed, Houston’s Burrough landed something on his man’s guard or elbows. Referee Robert Byrd alertly stepped in to call a halt to the action to Burrough’s surprise even though he was taking a volume of clean punches for a solid minute and never answered back.

Following the fight Esquivel talked to Boxeomundial.com and told us that “I went after him in the 2nd Round because I could see his facial expression change from the way he was in the 1st. He was acting tough and making faces like he was ready to go but in Round 2 his face changed- he felt my shots. In Round 2 the referee was looking at him close and I heard him tell Cameron that he needed to so something so I went for it and he saw that..it was a good stoppage”

RESULTS: Jonathan ‘El Diamante’ Esquivel remains undefeated stopping Cameron ‎Burroughs via TKO at (1:58) of Round 2.

Joe Spencer (1-0) vs. Uriel Gonzalez (1-3-1)

(Junior Middleweight Bout – 4 Rounds)

Kicking off the festivities as the first boxing event at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino of 2018 as well as the first Showtime boxing card were 154-pound fighters, Spencer and Gonzalez. The Michigan native made his professional debut and Gonzalez welcomed him with a barrage of power punches from every corner of the ring. The Sonora, Mexico representative threw defense out of the window and bull rushed his man. He had some success with his loopy, wide punches but, the more composed Spencer managed to block the bulk of the attack. In the final 10 seconds he opened up and landed a combination that connected with a right hand to his foe’s body. Gonzalez beat the count and made it to the 2nd stanza.

Going into Round 2 , Spencer found his rhythm and began breaking his man down with clean hooks to the head and body. His jab was also there firmly and piercing through his man’s guard. The Michigan native walked Gonzalez down and landed at will, letting his hands go to little resistance from Gonzalez as the referee stepped in to call a stop to the bout.

RESULTS: Joe Spencer makes successful professional debut with TKO stoppage of Uriel gonzalez at (2:12) of Round 2.