A number of intriguing principal occasions came about within the boxing ring on Saturday night time, with Alicia Baumgardner defeating Christina Linardatou to stay the undisputed tremendous light-weight champion on DAZN and light-weight prospect Frank Martin surviving a legit scare in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan on Showtime.
The fights will probably result in larger subsequent steps for the 2 “A-sides” of the primary occasion. For Baumgardner, the night time was a troublesome problem, however one she averted with accuracy and aggression. Nonetheless, Martin struggled with stress from Harutyunyan and wanted a late surge to decide within the WBC light-weight title eliminator over the “worldwide” champion.
Let’s check out the outcomes of this night of boxing motion.
Baumgardner turns down a agency problem to stay unchallenged
Linardatou gained in opposition to Baumgardner in 2018, the undisputed champion’s solely profession loss. Baumgardner is a a lot better fighter than he was 5 years in the past and it confirmed rapidly when she pounded Linardatou with large punches within the first spherical.
Baumgardner’s nook informed their fighter that her opponent was able to go after that spectacular opening spherical. Regardless of that, it was Linardatou, who fought for the primary time since being a baby, who introduced a lot of the motion into the subsequent rounds.
Baumgardner got here again sturdy in spherical 4, touchdown heavy pictures to the physique and head that clearly stabbed Linardaou. Not like her earlier battle, the place Baumgardner emptied the tank early in search of a break and pale a bit late, she did not maintain her foot on the fuel and as a substitute went again to choosing her pictures.
Linardatou did not again down from Baumgardner’s assault, however Baumgardner had discovered a key a part of her assault with onerous pictures to the physique that opened the pinnacle for some onerous uppercuts. In spherical 8, Linardatou’s mouthpiece was knocked out and appeared like she was on her final legs.
To her credit score, Linardatou emptied the tank on the final lap, pushing by nearly the complete two minutes and throwing pictures. Ultimately, that effort was not sufficient to clinch the victory, as Baumgardner gained the unanimous resolution by scores of 98-92 throughout the board.
Martin survives scare of sport Harutyunyan
Martin got here in as a heavy favorite, but it surely was Harutyunyan, a former Olympic bronze medalist from Germany, who turned up the stress within the early rounds and needed to take Martin out of his sport by not permitting Martin to place his toes down and make a constant assault. Martin responded by making an attempt to lock in a giant left hand to gradual Harutunyan’s offensive stress.
Regardless of the hype behind Martin as one of many elite contenders in a deep light-weight division, Martin typically appeared confused by a base strike from the Armenian-born German.
It wasn’t till spherical 6 that Martin lastly acquired rolling, although he was rolling fairly a bit, touchdown heavy energy pictures that despatched Harutyunyan staggering by the ring in an try to get better. Regardless of that sixth-round success from Martin, it was Harutyunyan who appeared to take over, making defensive changes and outsmarting Martin with significant pictures within the following rounds.
Seemingly down on the playing cards heading into the ultimate rounds, Martin turned issues round considerably from spherical 10. After that spherical went sturdy in the direction of Martin, he actually amped up the assault in spherical 11, touchdown some clear pictures and practically sending Harutyunyan to the canvas.
Martin’s jab induced vital swelling and discomfort for Harutyunyan round his left eye in spherical 12. As Martin continued to use the stress, Harutyunyan voluntarily took a knee with lower than a minute left within the battle. The knockdown turned out to be the distinction on CBS Sports activities’ unofficial scorecard, which might have had the battle a draw had Harutyunyan not suffered the late knockdown.
The official scorecards learn 114-113, 115-112 and 115-112, all for Martin narrowly avoiding catastrophe because the -1400 favourite.
There’ll must be a severe re-evaluation of the place Martin stands in a deep and harmful light-weight division the place he was thought of one of many prime contenders for undisputed champion Devin Haney.
Different notable outcomes
- Andy Cruz beats. Juan Carlos Burgos by way of unanimous resolution on DAZN — Cruz (1-0, 0 KO) is a former Olympic silver medalist and a real elite contender. He made his professional debut in opposition to Burgos (35-8-3, 21 KO) in an unusually authentic battle for a debuting prospect. Cruz was as much as the duty and dominated the motion with slick footwork, velocity and punches from corners from the opening bell. Burgos by no means stopped, which did not change in opposition to Cruz, however the prospect acquired 10 authentic rounds in opposition to a three-time world title challenger.
- Jermaine Franklin defeats Isaac Munoz by way of unanimous resolution on DAZN — Regardless of profitable practically each spherical, Franklin didn’t impress in opposition to an unfamiliar opponent. Munoz was there to be hit with nearly each shot throughout the battle, however Franklin could not do sufficient injury to get near a stoppage and Munoz stayed within the sport all the time, forcing Franklin to go the gap and each concept of Franklin as a future title challenger. .
- Elvis Rodriguez defeats. Viktor Postol by way of TKO7 on Showtime — Though Postol’s finest days are far behind him, this was a terrific achievement for Rodriguez. After making the jab work, Rodriguez began punching Postol, damaging his nostril and finally ending in spherical 7 after scoring a knockdown within the sixth spherical.
