Photo Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME
The crowd in attendance tonight came to see a battle in the headliner from the Palms Casino Resort and got one when title holder Jhonny Gonzalez took on Garry Russell Jr for the WBC Featherweight Championship bout inside the Pearl Theatre. Neither man hesitated to come forward meeting in the middle of the ring to throw heavy leather for the first 6 minutes of the match. Things looked like they would not last very long if the two warriors kept this pace up, sure enough that is exactly what would happen.
Going into the 3rd Round the Washington native sent his man to the canvas while backing up landing a counter combination featuring a deadly straight left hand followed by a perfect right hook that crashed landed on the side of Gonzalez’ head. The Mexican fighter was able to get back up to his feet luckily only having to beat the count and stay upright for a few seconds since the round came to an end shortly after. Ironically, that was also Jhonny Gonzalez’ downfall since he did not have ample time to recover from the punch. Garry Russell went in for the kill sending him to the canvas 2 more times early in the 4th round. Both times via left hook and both times Gonzalez was on very unsteady legs. Luckily referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the bout preventing any further damage to Gonzalez.
The official time of the TKO victory for Garry Russell was 57 seconds into the 4th round as he picks up the WBC Featherweight strap becoming a title holder for the second time in his career.
JERMELL CHARLO OUTPOINTS MARTIROSYAN OVER 10
Photo Credit: Esther Lin/SHOWTIME
In the co-main even of the evening Jermell Charlo (26-0) continued his undefeated campaign in the 154-pound division by easily out pointing the always dangerous Vanes Martirosyan (35-2-1) for the course of 10 rounds. A bout originally scheduled for 12 but lessened by 2 rounds the week of the match, it still managed to give fans a title fight’s worth of action. Martirosyan pressed forward continually in search of a game changer, having his moments as he backed up his foe with multiple combinations. In some instances the Glendale, CA native managed to push his foe along the ropes or score with good counters but the success was far and in-between. He never let up thanks to his conditioning which was superb however, his lack of connectivity would be Martirosyan’s downfall.
Jermell fought smart controlling the action in the ring using his superior footwork and counter punching abilities. By working angles on his opponent, Charlo walked Martirosyan into some solid right hands that had Martirosyan gun shy for most of the rounds immediately after they landed. Once he picked his gloves back up, he was too tentative and conscious of the hand speed difference which let Jermell control the action as well as momentum of the bout with ease. A clash of heads temporarily brought the fight to a halt in the 8th round but the match continued with Charlo dictating the pace behin perfectly time 1-2 combinations.
Once the dust settled the official cards read 97-93, 96-94 and 96-94 for the undefeated Jermell Charlo.
Thomas Hill (3-0) vs. Jeremiah Page (2-2)
(Super Welterweight Bout – 4 Rounds)
For the swing bout of the night that took place just before the co-main and main event, Hill stepped into the ring to make quick work of Page. As soon as they touched gloves, Hill created a little bit of space then rushed his unsuspecting foe with an arsenal of punches blitzing Page. A left hook and straight hurt the Kansas native sending him to the canvas while a mean straight right hand sealed the deal. Referee Jay Nady counted Page out giving Hill the victory in under a minute.
Result: Thomas Hill remains unbeaten defeating Jeremiah Page via KO at 55 seconds of Round 1.
J’Leon Love (19-1) vs. Scott Sigmon (24-7-1)
(Super Middleweight Bout – 8 Rounds)
Love returned to the scene of his first professional loss opposite Virginia’s Sigmon in search of redemption. He found it in the form of a calm, poised and patient performance stringing together his shots showcasing his flashy jab plus left hooks.
The Las Vegas fighter also avoided any unnecessary exchanges by implementing a stick and move approach as well as good lateral movement if he wasn’t using the ring to skate out of the pocket. In close quarters Love showed improvement also in his upper body movement as well as ability to slip punches. Sigmon wanted a fire fight but his desire to exchange heat left him open for counters during each round of the match. Love fought very smart by boxing in a fight where it was equally as important to get into the Win” column as it was to win some confidence back.
Result: J’Leon Love defeats Scott Sigmon by way of unanimous decision with scores of 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73.
Jermall Charlo (21-0) vs. Michael Finney (12-3-1)
(Super Welterweight Bout – 10 Rounds)
The first fight on the main card for the Showtime boxing event from the Palms Casino Resort featured a pair of 154-pound fighters in “Hitman” Charlo and Finney. From the 1st round Jermall’s greater hand speed commanded the respect of Finney putting him in a box. Jermall would launch a series of shots at range or in the pocket, landing clean behind his lighting fast hands that would scrape across his foe’s face in the form of straights and crosses. Finney could not put his guard up fast enough to avoid the punches coming, but if he did, he found himself coming in flat footed anticipating the attack from Jermall thus Finney’s lack of offense increased as the rounds progressed. Jermall found a home for his straight right hand around the 3rd round so he slammed it on Finney’s face viciously making the Alabama native’s head snap back constantly.
Another approach that worked for Jermall was a left uppercut-straight right hand combination that increased the already swelling eyes of Finney. The Alabama standout wouldn’t go quietly into the night ripping to his foe’s body with left and right hooks for the final few rounds but it was too little too late as the fight came to a close with Jermall clearly sweeping all the rounds.
Result: Jermall “Hitman” Charlo defeats Michael Finney with scores of 100-94 on all 3 of the judge’s scorecards.
