Albert Bell kept his place in line for a 130-pound title shot Friday night.
The unbeaten Bell defeated Filipino veteran Presco Carcosia by technical knockout in the main event of an OTX Boxing card DAZN streamed from OTE Arena in Atlanta. The much taller, rangier Bell (24-0, 7 KOs), the WBO’s second-ranked junior lightweight contender, dropped Carcosia early in the fifth round and battered him for the remainder of that round.
Carcosia’s handlers decided after that round to stop their scheduled eight-round bout.
The 30-year-old Bell, of Toledo, Ohio, won inside the distance for the first time in four fights. The 27-year-old Carcosia (11-3-1, 9 KOs) lost by knockout or technical knockout for the first time in five years as a pro.
Bell’s right uppercut knocked Carcosia to the canvas 45 seconds into the fifth round. Carcosia fell to his side, but he beat referee Malik Waleed’s count and tried his best to fend off an aggressive Bell.
Another right hand by Bell rocked Carcosia with just under 40 seconds to go in the fifth round. Carcosia threw enough punches back, however, to make it to the end of the fifth round.
Bell made Carcosia pay for his aggression in the fourth round by continually countering the shorter, slower fighter. By then, it only appeared to be a matter of time before Bell would stop Carcosia.
A left-right combination by Bell landed a few seconds prior to the end of the third round. A left hook by Bell connected with just under 55 seconds remaining in the third round.
Bell blasted Carcosia with an overhand right 50 seconds into the third round. Bell landed another right hand several seconds later that affected Carcosia.
A multi-punch combination by Bell caught Carcosia when he was backed against the ropes toward the end of the second round. Bell completely controlled the action during the second round, when Carcosia couldn’t get inside of his jab.
Carcosia caught Bell with a left hook to the body with just under 30 seconds remaining in the first round. Bell landed two right hands in the same sequence with just under a minute on the clock in the first round.
Also on the card, the knockdown Tyler Howard recorded late in the first round enabled him to edge Raul Salomon on the scorecards.
Howard won their eight-round middleweight match by majority decision due to that knockdown. Judge Richard Sells scored their fight a draw, 76-76, but he was overruled by judges Trae Webb and Carl Williams, both of whom scored Howard a one-point winner, 76-75.
Salomon hurt Howard in the final seconds of their very competitive bout, but he ran out of time to capitalize on that momentum.
Howard (20-1, 11 KOs), of Crossville, Tennessee, fought for the first time since suffering his first professional loss – an eight-round unanimous decision to Ian Green (17-2, 11 KOs) in November 2021 at Virgin Hotels Las Vegas.
The 24-year-old Salomon, of Long Beach, California, slipped to 12-2 (8 KOs).
Their competitive contest seemingly could’ve gone either way entering the eighth and final round of DAZN’s co-feature.
Howard and Salomon traded hard shots in the final 15 seconds of their fight. Salomon hurt Howard with a right hand in that sequence, but the bell prevented him from dropping a staggered Howard.
Salomon landed a right uppercut with about 1:20 remaining in their fight.
Howard’s right hand knocked Salomon off balance with 1:15 to go in the seventh round. Howard’s left hook moved Salomon backward a little less than a minute into the seventh round.
Howard and Salomon traded left hooks with just over 30 seconds on the clock in the sixth round. Salomon’s right uppercut nailed Howard with approximately 1:10 to go in the sixth round.
Another right by Salomon knocked Howard off balance with about 35 seconds to go in the fifth round. Salomon landed back-to-back right hands with just over a minute remaining in the fifth round.
Howard’s right hand knocked Salomon backward about 45 seconds into the fourth round.
Salomon’s right hand landed to the side of Howard’s head just before the midway mark of the third round.
Salomon worked well off his jab during the final minute of the second round. Salomon’s right hand caught Howard a little less than a minute into the second round.
A short, counter left hook by Howard dropped Salomon with 22 seconds on the clock in the first round. Salomon, whose gloves prevented him from going to the seat of his trunks, quickly got to his feet.
Howard nailed Salomon with a right hand just before the bell sounded to end the first round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.