Crawford vs. Postol : Prelims Results Recap

Foto por Top Rank

Ryota Murata (11-0) vs. George Tahdooahnippah (34-3-3)

(Middleweight Bout – 10 Rounds)

Former Olympian, ‎Murata blasted right past Oklahoma’s Tahdooahnippah in under one round. Murata was first and when he hit he did it with conviction and moved forward with no respect for his foe’s counter shots or power. The Japanese fighter broke his man down in the middle of the ring going from body to the head back to the body. Murata unloaded two perfect left hooks to the body of his man that dropped him down to a knee. Clearly hurt and in pain, he beat the count but was in bad shape as Murata attacked him with a barrage of punches backing him along the corner of the ring. Tahdooahnippah was trapped and threw one or two shots before covering up with a high guard which did little to block the relentless blows from his Japanese opponent who unloaded 3 consecutive over hand rights that blasted his man to the head, snapping his head along the ropes as the referee jumped in to stop the match.

RESULT: Ryota Murata remains undefeated ‎ stopping George Tahdooahnippah via TKO at (1:52) of Round 1.

Lenny ‘Leonardo Zappa’ Zappavigna (35-2) vs. Lianhui Yang (18-1-0-1)

(Super Lightweight Bout – 3 Rounds)

The most entertaining match of the under card saw ‎Zappavigna and Yang go to war in a toe-to-toe battle fought either at close quarters along the ropes or in the middle of the ring to the crowd’s delight. Both men gave as good as they got, kept the leather flying at close range and busted each other’s faces up with big bombs. Yang had his moments in the first 2 rounds taking shots and matching them with 1-2 combinations and big over hand rights but towards the middle of the contest began to lose steam. Zappavigna’s great conditioning and punch variety allowed him to open up his man and land straight, poweful shots down the middle. He also jabbed his way in, crouched down to just the right level and landed found his range really getting behind the over hand right and getting great results. In the 6th Round, Zappavigna rocked his man with one of those looping and powerful right hands, he had connected with them very well in the 5th round and kept the pace of in the 6th getting even more success. A right landed flush on his Chinese foe and made Yang stumble backwards, Zappavigna unloaded everything but the kitchen sink as he backed him up into a corner, left-right,left-right big over hand right with no answer from Yang so the official came in to halt the bout.

RESULT: ‎ Lenny ‘Zappa’ Zappavigna stops Lianhui Yang via TKO at (0:43) of Round 6.
Edward Williams (12-1-1) vs. Christon Edwards (6-2)

(Welterweight Bout – 6 Rounds)

‎Williams and Edwards went to battle for 30 minutes in a match that featured allot more lateral movement, angles and unique footwork than a wide assortment of punches thrown. Edwards hat allot of spring to his step in a combination of Victor Ortiz’ back foot bounce and Shawn Porter’s seemingly endless battery used to slide in and out of range. The Texan skipped in and out of the pocket in a Porteresque style that featured allot of unnecessary use of space rather than calculated approach to landing a shot. Between crowding his foe’s space and bouncing back out to set up his jab, Edwards leaned forward to shoot a left hook or right hand that missed their mark or caught his foe on the belt line not doing much damage. Williams patiently waited round after round for his man to come in, countered him with a hook or over hand right if not wrapped him up via clinch to pump the breaks on his adversary’s constant in and out movement or misused aggression. Towards the middle of the match and the last 2 rounds both men opted to feint, half step, circle out and then throw one punch not really committing to a solid combination . Williams height advantage allowed him though to lean his head out of the way as Edwards charged in and then rake him across the face with a loopy punch or short shot on the inside, not much but it worked and added up points.

To his credit Edwards’ great conditioning had to be acknowledged here, as he showed the same pace throughout the bout via shifting in and out of the pocket before shooting a leaping jab, then clinching his man and burying his head into his chest as he sometimes muscled him and drove him back. Nonetheless, Williams popped his jab, launched a big over hand right and also operated behind a loppy left hook which found its mark if not beat up the shoulders of his constantly moving target. ‎When both the 147ers tangled up, the Michigan native had more options by holding Edwards with his left arm then punishing him with his over hand right. The two landed one or two shots from the outside before meeting in a corner of the ring and trading a few shots at close range in the 6th Round just as their match came to an end.

RESULT ‎: Edward Williams defeats Christon Edwards via Unanimous Decision with scores of 59-55, 58-56, 58-56.
Stanislav Skorokhod (11-1) vs. Hakim Bryant (6-1)

(Middleweight Bout – 6 Rounds)

Skorokhod put on a boxing clinic against his over matched foe in Bryant. The Ukraine native had great hand speed, masterful combinations and controlled the action in the center of the ring as he operated behind a solid jab and mean 1-2. About halfway into Round 1, Skorokhod threw a combination and landed his short left hook flush unto his man. This sent Bryant popping backwards on to his seat just like when Ike Quartey dropped Oscar De La Hoya to the canvas during their famous battle.

Bryant beat the referee’s count but was on very unsteady legs, so much so that he ate a few more punches from the Ukraine fighter who was teeing off on him at this point so he launched himself forward in an attempt to tackle him. Bryant wrapped his arm’s around his foe’s waist and dragged him to the mat where they both fell to. The referee stood them up then gave Bryant an 8-count which he again beat and magically survived another onslaught from Skorokhod before the round came to an end.

What preceded to take place ‎the rest of the fight was a one-sided sparring session in which Stanislav could not miss as he operated behind his deadly 1-2, solid jab, ring generalship and masterful use of range. Every time he landed his straight he whipped his opponent’s head around and the left hook broke him down just enough to lower the guard and enable punches to the head to come through as he cruised to a decision.

RESULT: Stanislav Skorokhod defeats Hakim Bryant via unanimous decision with scores of 60-52, 60-52 and 60-53.
Steve Nelson (3-0) vs. Tim Meek (5-3-1)

(Light Heavyweight Bout – 4 Rounds)

A pair of light heavyweights kicked off the night from the MGM Grand Garden Arena ‎inside the MGM Grand hotel and casino. Nelson gave everyone in the arena something to cheer for early as he landed a sneaky overhand right early in Round 1 and kept operating behind the shot as the moments passed. During the last 10 seconds of Round 1 Nelson ‎pumped his jab then came over the top with an over hand right again that landed flush on the left side of Meek’s face. The Texan staggered backwards and then fell like a redwood tree unto the canvas. He beat the referee’s count and continued the match but was on unsteady legs going back towards his corner once the bell rung. For the next 2 rounds Meek tried to counter his foe’s powerful right hand with a short left hook on the inside. Due to the hand speed disparity he mostly came up short landing his left very rarely and Nelson was content to jab his way into his man’s chest then launch the right hand punch with little to no resistance from his adversary. He landed it beautifully in the latter portion of Round 3 then followed up with a left hook that hurt Meek who walked backwards on unsteady legs as Nelson marched forward with clean punches that met their mark, an upper cut Nelson to his foe cut Meek open

RESULT: Steve “So Cold” Nelson stops Tim Meek via TKO at (0:32) ‎of Round ‎4.