ONTARIO, California – Samuel Teah knocked off an undefeated fighter Saturday night in his first fight in almost 18 months.
The Liberian-born junior welterweight from Philadelphia landed the harder punches on Enriko Gogokhia throughout their eight-round fight and won a unanimous decision at Toyota Arena. Judges Rudy Barragan (79-72), Ivan Guillermo (78-73) and Zachary Young (78-73) all scored their fight for Teah by comfortable margins.
Showtime streamed Teah’s win on its YouTube channel as part of the Brandon Figueroa-Mark Magsayo undercard.
The 35-year-old Teah (19-4-1, 8 KOs), who dropped Gogokhia in the first round, fought for the first time since he stopped Larry Fryers (11-6-1, 4 KOs) in the first round of their September 2021 bout at 2300 Arena in Philadelphia.
Gogokhia, a Georgian southpaw who resides in Woodland Hills, California, lost for the first time as a professional (13-1-2, 8 KOs). Each of Gogokhia’s previous two fights resulted in eight-round draws with St. Louis’ Kent Cruz (16-0-3, 10 KOs).
Gogokhia clearly needed a knockout entering the eighth and final round, but he couldn’t affect Teah with any of his punches.
A pair of right hands by Teah knocked Gogokhia off balance on separate occasions in the final 15 seconds of the eighth round. Teah backed up Gogokhia with a right hand with about 45 seconds to go in their bout.
A right hand up top by Teah moved Gogokhia into the ropes with approximately 15 seconds to go in the seventh round.
Teah landed a straight right hand 1:05 into the seventh round.
Gogokhia was more elusive during the sixth round than he had been in previous rounds. The southpaw also snuck in a right hook as Teah pressed forward toward the end of the sixth round.
Teah’s flush right hand knocked Gogokhia into the ropes with just over 30 seconds to go in the fifth round, when Teah continued to land the harder shots. A right hand by Teah backed up Gogokhia with just over a minute remaining in the fifth round.
Teah and Gogokhia traded hard shots as the fourth round came to a conclusion.
Teah landed a right hand, but Gogokhia quickly countered with a right hook just after the halfway point of the fourth round. Gogokhia went down approximately 45 seconds into the fourth round, but Corona ruled that a leg entanglement caused him to fall.
Teah landed two right hands in about a 10-second span late in what was a successful third round for him.
A right hand by Teah backed up Gogokhia 50 seconds into the third round. Teah’s left hook connected about 10 seconds earlier.
Teah drilled Gogokhia with a right to his body with just over 30 seconds on the clock in the second round.
Corona warned Teah for a low blow with just over 1:40 to go in the second round. A straight left by Gogokhia backed up Teach barely a minute into the second round.
Teah caught Gogokhia with a left hook that briefly dropped him with 1:04 to go in the opening round.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.