Campbell wins lightweigh​t crown

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT

Campbell takes home lightweight belt with hard-fought win over Lloveras at Twin River

MIKE ‘THE BEAST’ CAMPBELL

LINCOLN, R.I. – Providence, R.I., native Mike “The Beast” Campbell took home the hardware Friday night as he defeated Brazilian Abner Lloveras (15-7-1) by unanimous to win the vacant Classic Entertainment & Sports’ Mixed Martial Arts lightweight title at Twin River Casino.

Unafraid to exchange blows with the former Spanish Olympic boxer, Campbell (13-4) dominated the stand-up game and withstood the best Lloveras (15-7-1) had to offer in a 50-44, 48-47, 49-48 unanimous-decision win.

“I had to make a few adjustments along the way,” Campbell said. “He’s a lot stronger than I expected. He came to fight tonight, but so did I”.

Campbell has now won four consecutive fights since his last loss. For Lloveras, Friday’s setback was his first loss in four bouts. Campbell is just the second champion crowned by CES; the first was Todd Chattelle, who won the inaugural middleweight title in 2012.

Arguably the most exciting knockout of the night belonged to rising bantamweight Andre Soukhamthath (4-1, 3 KOs) of Woonsocket, R.I., who buckled Kurt Chase-Patrick (1-1) of Seymour, Conn., with a liver shot courtesy of a short, left hook in the second round and finished him with a series of unanswered blows at the 45-second mark to earn his fourth consecutive win.

After an even opening round, Soukhamthath pressed Chase-Patrick against the cage, where he caught him with a body blow that sent his opponent to the canvas. That was it for Chase-Patrick, who could only stave off the damage for a few more seconds before the referee mercifully stopped the bout.

Courtland, N.Y., native Josh Lange (2-1) made quick work of newcomer Chris Dudley (0-1) in the opening bout, earning the submission with an arm triangle at the 1:32 mark of the first round. Welterweights Toby Oden (1-0) of Milford, Mass., also earned an impressive submission victory in his professional debut, defeating fellow newcomers Sylvester Murataj (0-1) of Rocky Hill, Conn., by rear-naked choke 1:03 into the opening round.

Welterweight Eric Spicely (1-0) of Providence, R.I., dominated on the ground to earn a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 unanimous-decision win over fellow debut Kemran Lachinov (0-1) of Springfield, Mass., while lightweight Terrell Clark (1-0, 1 KO) finished Framingham, Mass., veteran Adam Quitt (1-3) at the 1:45 mark of the opening round with a series of unanswered blows.

In a rematch from their fight at Twin River in December, heavyweight Pat Walsh (3-0, 2 KOs) of West Bridgewater, Mass., earned another quick victory over Providence’s Eric Bedard (4-3), this time finishing Bedard with unanswered blows 1:56 into the opening. Their first bout ended in just 51 seconds due to a Kimura submission by Walsh.

Rahway, N.J., native Shedrick Goodridge (4-4) stopped his three-fight losing streak in spectacular fashion in the middleweight division, forcing Dedham, Mass., veteran Brett Oteri (11-4) to submit 2:42 into the second round after sustaining a head injury in the second round. Oteri fought most of the bout with a severe cut under his right eye and ultimately tapped out verbally.

Featherweight Joe Pingitore (2-0-1) of Johnston, R.I., and Boston’s Sergio Moran Cabrera (2-0-1) fought two exciting, back-and-forth rounds before the bout ended in a majority draw after an inadvertent by Pingitore left Cabrera unable to continue. Two of the three judges had the fight even, resulting in the draw. In the welterweight division, New York native and Bombsquad veteran Darius Heyliger (5-1) used his height and reach to his advantage, peppering Wilfredo Santiago (3-2) of Lawrence, Mass., with jabs and rear leg kicks and bouncing back from a slow start to score a 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 unanimous-decision win – his second career win at Twin River.

One of the most surprising outcomes of the night occurred in the featherweight division, where up-and-comer Rob Font (5-1) of Boston out-worked veteran Saul Almeida (12-4) to earn a 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 unanimous-decision win to hand Almeida his fourth consecutive loss. Font kept his distance and utilized his superior stand-up game to frustrate Almeida and prevent him from taking the fight to the ground.