Flint, Michigan’s Ardreal Holmes Jr extended his undefeated record with a superb second-round knockout of Marlon Harrington.
Holmes fought Harrington at 154lbs in the main event on Salita Promotions’ inaugural DAZN broadcast at the Wayne Star Fieldhouse in Detroit.
Harrington started more aggressively, and was on the front foot for the opening 30 seconds of round one. Holmes, however, played it cool, keeping on his toes and using the perimeter of the ring to gauge Harrington’s awkward movement.
The 31-year-old Harrington’s pressure gradually reduced over the next minute as Holmes began to succeed with his jab. Holmes landed a straight left hand in the final minute of the opening round and launched a big right hook but he missed as he began to let his hands go. Harrington threw another combination to close out the three minutes, but he missed by some distance with his opponent on the ropes.
At the start of the second Holmes scored with a sharp left to the body; Harrington missed another wild combination. But when Holmes landed a big left hand over the top, Harrington hit the canvas.
He was up on the count of eight, but Holmes looked to close the show, flooring Harrington with a left hook. He reluctantly rose to his feet once again and Holmes crashed in another big left hand that caused Harrington to drop to his knees some seconds later under pressure. The referee rescued him at one minute and 34 seconds.
“We’re back now,” said Holmes. “And the ‘Bossman’ is the name. Anybody who’s in front of me, I want you. I’m willing to fight anybody. It’s my time to go. I don’t feel like I’ve done enough to call out the names yet – anyone they put in front of me, I’m ready. [Erickson] Lubin beat me 13 years ago. I want that get-back.”
Holmes’ record improved to 15-0 (6 KOs). Harrington is 10-2 (9 KOs), after suffering his first knockout defeat.
The Detroit-based Russian light-heavyweight contender Ali Izmailov improved to 12-0, with eight stoppages, following a fourth-round victory over the Las Vegas-based southpaw Britton Norwood.
The John David Jackson-trained Izmailov dropped Norwood with a long right hand to the body near the end of the second round, but Izmailov remained on top the rest of the way. Izmailov landed more rights to the body in the third and Norwood bled profusely from the nose.
Izmailov countered smartly to the head and body and Norwood touched down again from another right downstairs in the fourth. Izmailov then piled in behind both hands, and with Norwood in retreat, his trainer Joel Casamayor climbed on to the ring apron and asked the referee to call it off.
The time of the stoppage was 1:28. Norwood is 13-5-1, with 10 early wins.
Joseph Hicks, from Grand Rapids, moved to 10-0 following a fourth-round win over Argentina’s Ricardo Ruben Villalba that was secured by a body punch. The impressive Hicks gradually broke through, eventually following in behind a right hand with a short left hook to the body that put Villalba on to all fours. The stoppage came 42 seconds into the fourth round.
There was a major upset in the swing bout when the 9-0 “The Problem” Cameran Pankey, a popular prospect from Pontiac, Michigan, was beaten over six by Juan Hernandez Martinez at super featherweight. Martinez improves to 3-3-2. Pankey was down in the third; Martinez surged forwards and lashed in shots to the head and body; it was the body shots that did the damage. The gritty Pankey had to bite down hard to make it through the round.
In the end, all three judges scored 57-56 for Martinez, who took the fight at 24 hours’ notice. It was close, it was thrilling, but the victory was deserved.
In a six-round fight, the southpaw Da’Velle Smith, from Taylor, Michigan and now 8-0 with six early wins, defeated Argentina’s Rolando Wenceslao Mansilla on points at middleweight by two margins of 60-54 and another of 59-55. Mansilla’s record reads 19-14-1 (9 KOs).