Joshua James Pagan (10-0, 4 KOs) of Grand Rapids, Michigan, stayed undefeated however endured a tricky battle to do it towards Chattanooga, Tennessee’s now previously undefeated Roger Hilley (13-1, 8 KOs).
Pagan fought by means of a free-flowing left-eye minimize he suffered from an unintentional head butt in spherical one to outwork the sturdy Hilley for a majority of rounds and within the course of, gained the Junior NABF Tremendous Light-weight Championship.
To his credit score, Hilley got here out smoking and seeking to bang Pagan’s physique from each side, however Pagan righted the ship rapidly and put his beginner pedigree to work by slipping uppercuts and proper arms between Hilley’s tried outbursts.
Because the rounds wore on, the higher conditioning of Pagan confirmed by means of, and he was starting to tug away late within the struggle.
The scores had been 78-74 from all three judges.
“I’m feeling nice,” mentioned Pagan, post-fight. “That was my first eight rounder and it was towards an undefeated man, however I skilled arduous for this and positively earned it.”
Pagan mentioned that the minimize in spherical one was a little bit of a distraction, however he used his expertise as a professional and former beginner champion to will his manner by means of the impediment.
“I knew if I obtained butted or minimize, to only keep calm. I’ve been minimize earlier than, and I understand how to regulate and struggle by means of it. I discovered as I went on to struggle smarter and never get hit within the eye. I felt like he was attempting to again me up and I’ve at all times heard it’s a must to bully the bully, so I made a decision to face my floor and that made him hesitant. So, then I began utilizing my boxing skill to maintain him exterior and struggle my struggle.”
Within the night time’s opening televised bout, Almaty, Kazakhstan’s once-beaten Ali Akhmedov (21-1, 16 KOs) minimize his scheduled-for-10 tremendous middleweight matchup towards San Francisco, California’s Encarnacion Diaz (18-5, 11 KOs) quick by stopping him at 2:14 of spherical two.
One-way site visitors within the bout, as Akhmedov’s thudding physique pictures and straight punches to the top had been an excessive amount of for the outgunned Diaz, who tried switching stances and throwing haymakers to no avail.
Skilled by Detroit’s personal Johnathon Banks, Akhmedov stored his expertise sharp whereas he waits for one more alternative to climb the rankings.
In a 4 spherical all-Detroit middleweight struggle that served as a TV swing bout, Josiah “Mighty Joe” Shackleford (2-1, 2 KOs) of Detroit and professional debuting foe Ja’Shar Banks (0-1) placed on an entertaining scrap with Shackleford popping out victorious by unanimous determination.
Shackleford had too many weapons for the powerful Banks, however Banks refused to provide in and stored throwing again to the bitter finish. Shackleford could have tried for a knockout too arduous, giving Banks the chance to duck below the doubtless ending blows.
The scores had been 40-36 from all three judges.
