The maiden voyage of Overtime Boxing (OTX) kicked off Friday from the OTE Arena in Atlanta on DAZN.
Founded by sports media company Overtime and led by general manager Brandon Rhodes, the upstart OTX launched their developmental, prospect-and-contender-based trial series with a five-fight card.
The showcase attraction for their first of four straight Friday shows featured a super bantamweight fight between Elijah Pierce and Mike Plania.
After losing the first two rounds, Pierce (18-2, 15 KOs) bounced back and scored a stunning one-punch knockout against Plania (28-3, 15 KOs) in the third round.
The 26-year-old, Oklahoma-bred southpaw Pierce connected with a short and succinct shotgun left hand that dropped Plania, and the Florida-based Filipino fighter failed to pick himself back up from the canvas.
The end officially came 53 seconds into the third round.
The bout was scheduled for eight rounds, and Pierce arguably dropped the first two before he bounced back.
“I can adjust on the fly. I’ve always been able to do so.” Pierce said afterward. “My coaches told me to change the pace and go for it instead of trying to box him. He was trying to take a page out of my book and we just switched the game on him.”
A clash of heads opened a cut across Plania’s forehead in the first round, but it didn’t deter him from mustering off several explosive left and right hooks.
Plania set the pace by pressing forward, and in round two, the Nonito Donaire Sr.-trained fighter started successfully unleashing and connecting with a hard left hook.
But soon after, it was Pierce’s picture-perfect left hand that proved to be the victory-clinching punch.
Plania outlanded Pierce 30 to 26 in the brief bout.
Plania’s only other losses as a pro came against Juan Carlos Payano and Ra’eese Aleem.
In the co-main event, 2020 United States Olympic bronze medalist Oshae Jones displayed her superior boxing pedigree and delivered a one-sided beating against an overwhelmed and outmatched Miranda Barber.
Jones (4-0, 0 KOs) dominated Barber (3-5, 1 KO) throughout every stage of their eight-round super welterweight scrap, as all three judges scored the bout 80-72.
The 25-year-old Jones, from Toledo, Ohio, followed and outslugged Barber from her southpaw stance, ultimately outlanding Barber 178 to 37 – 154 of them being power punches.
Barber absorbed a bad beating, most notably in the sixth round when she failed to protect herself and received a flush right to the chin during a brief pause in the action. As she was recovering and complaining to the referee, Jones continued to unleash a flurry – 26 overall in the round compared to just four returned from Barber.
Barber brought in MMA and bare-knuckle fighting experience but never looked comfortable unleashing a consistent offensive attack against the more talented Jones.
After having trouble making weight in his last three fights, a rededicated Haven Brady Jr. returned to deliver Andre Rene Rodriguez his first professional loss.
Brady Jr. (10-0, 4 KOs) rocked and ripped the resilient Rodriguez (9-1, 5 KOs) — specifically with a sharp uppercut – throughout their six-round super featherweight fight to score the shutout unanimous decision win.
All three judges awarded Brady with scores of 60-54.
Brady outlanded Rodriguez 139 to 82 as the unmarked Rodriguez showed great punch resistance throughout the competitive fight as Brady landed a bevy of bombs.
A slugfest broke out as the fight developed, starting in the third round and featuring shoulder-to-shoulder action on the inside. While Rodriguez was pressing in landing more, Brady was getting the better of the exchanges with sharper and harder shots
The 21-year-old, three-year pro Brady bludgeoned Rodriguez with a barrage of uppercuts in the fifth round but the resilient Rodriguez kept walking through them and fighting back.
The Albany, Georgia-based Brady was cornered by touted welterweight contender Jaron Ennis and head trainer and Jaron’s father, Bozy Ennis.
Fighting preschool teacher Gabriel Muratalla kept his unbeaten record intact by efficiently outboxing Edwin Rodriguez, giving the Puerto Rican contender a losing lesson in their six-round bantamweight scrap.
The Robert Garcia-trained Muratalla (10-0, 5 KOs) used his athleticism and moved around behind a deft jab to score a unanimous decision win against Rodriguez (11-7-2, 5 KOs).
Judges scored the boxing match 60-54, 60-64, and 59-55.
Muratalla outlanded Rodriguez 93 to 66.
Muratalla had his best moments in the sixth round when he momentarily stunned Rodriguez with a hard right and unleashed scoring combinations to punctuate his winning performance.
The 29-year-old Muratalla is the older brother of Raymond Muratalla (18-0, 15 KOs), a lightweight prospect who is promoted by Top Rank.
The 11-year rugged veteran Rodriguez was coming off a two-year layoff and fighting an undefeated opponent for the seventh time in his last eight fights dating back to 2017.
An entertaining battle between unbeaten featherweight prospects kicked off the card featuring Xavian Ramirez and Ricardo Lucio Galvan. An all-action clash ensued from the first bell of the well-matched, four-round firefight, but it was Galvan (5-0, 2 KOs) who outlasted Ramirez (4-1, 3 KOs) with a unanimous decision victory.
Galvan – who trains out of Canelo Alvarez’s camp – relied on his relentless pressure to mount momentum as the fight wore on to edge the win.
All three judges scored the slugfest 39-37.
Ramirez rallied and showed a respectable account of himself but was outworked and outhustled.
The 25-year-old Reno-based Mexican landed 73 punches compared to 52 from Ramirez. Galvan also threw 315 total punches, 123 more than Ramirez.
The remaining OTX shows are scheduled for Aug. 11, 18, and 25 and will feature a near-50 pool of prospects and contenders they signed to one-fight deals.
OTX will reevaluate its plans for 2024 after it assesses its summertime slate of shows.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer, and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk[dot]akopyan[at]gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.