A pair of intriguing important occasions went down within the boxing ring on Saturday night time, with Alicia Baumgardner outworking Christina Linardatou to stay undisputed tremendous light-weight champion on DAZN and light-weight prospect Frank Martin surviving a reputable scare in opposition to Artem Harutyunyan on Showtime.
The fights probably result in greater subsequent steps for the 2 important occasion “A-sides.” For Baumgardner, the night time featured a stiff problem however one she was in a position to flip away with accuracy and aggression. Martin, nonetheless, struggled with the strain of Harutyunyan, needing a late surge to edge out a call within the WBC light-weight title eliminator over the “worldwide” champion.
Let’s check out the outcomes from this night time of boxing motion.
Baumgardner turns away stiff problem to stay undisputed
Linardatou holds a 2018 win over Baumgardner, the undisputed champ’s solely profession loss. Baumgardner is a a lot better fighter than she was 5 years in the past and that was on show shortly as she spent the primary spherical battering Linardatou with huge punches.
Baumgardner’s nook advised their fighter that her opponent was able to go after that spectacular opening spherical. Regardless of that, it was Linardatou, preventing for the primary time since having a baby, who introduced the vast majority of the motion within the following rounds.
Baumgardner got here again robust in Spherical 4, touchdown heavy pictures to the physique and head that clearly had Linardaou stung. Not like her earlier battle, the place Baumgardner emptied the tank early looking for a stoppage and light a bit late, she didn’t hold her foot on the fuel and as a substitute went again to selecting her pictures.
Linardatou didn’t again down from Baumgardner’s assault, however Baumgardner had discovered a key a part of her offense with arduous pictures to the physique that opened up the pinnacle to some arduous uppercuts. By Spherical 8 Linardatou had her mouthpiece knocked out and seemed as if she was on her final legs.
To her credit score, Linardatou emptied the tank within the remaining spherical, urgent the motion and throwing pictures for practically the complete two minutes. Ultimately, that effort was not sufficient to get the win as Baumgardner took the unanimous choice win by scores of 98-92 throughout the board.
Martin survives scare from recreation Harutyunyan
Martin entered as an enormous favourite but it surely was Harutyunyan, a former Olympic bronze medalist from Germany, who introduced the strain within the early rounds, seeking to throw Martin off his recreation by not permitting Martin to set his ft and set up constant offense. Martin responded by making an attempt to lock in on a giant counter left hand to sluggish Harutunyan’s offensive strain.
Regardless of the hype behind Martin as one of many elite contenders in a deep light-weight division, Martin ceaselessly seemed befuddled by a primary assault from the Armenian-born German.
It took till Spherical 6 for Martin to lastly get rolling, although he obtained rolling in a giant approach, touchdown heavy energy pictures that had Harutyunyan reeling across the ring, making an attempt to recuperate. Regardless of that sixth-round success from Martin, it was Harutyunyan who appeared to take again over, making defensive changes and outlanding Martin with significant pictures within the following rounds.
Seemingly down on the playing cards heading into the ultimate rounds, Martin turned issues up significantly beginning in Spherical 10. After that spherical went strongly in Martin’s route, he actually amped up the offense in Spherical 11, touchdown some clear pictures and practically sending Harutyunyan to the canvas.
Martin’s jab triggered some vital swelling and discomfort for Harutyunyan round his left eye in Spherical 12. As Martin continued to pour on the strain, Harutyunyan voluntarily took a knee with much less {that a} minute remaining within the battle. The knockdown proved to be the distinction on the 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 who narrowly averted catastrophe as a -1400 favourite.
There’ll must be a critical re-evaluation of the place Martin stands in a deep and harmful light-weight division the place he was regarded as one of many high contenders for undisputed champion Devin Haney.
Different notable outcomes
- Andy Cruz def. Juan Carlos Burgos by way of unanimous choice on DAZN — Cruz (1-0, 0 KO) is a former Olympic silver medalist and a real elite prospect. He made his professional debut in opposition to Burgos (35-8-3, 21 KO) in an unusually reputable battle for a debuting prospect. Cruz was as much as the duty, dominating the motion with slick footwork, pace and punches from angles from the opening bell. Burgos has by no means been stopped, which didn’t change in opposition to Cruz, however the prospect obtained 10 reputable rounds in opposition to a three-time world title challenger.
- Jermaine Franklin def Isaac Munoz by way of unanimous choice on DAZN — Regardless of successful practically each spherical, Franklin did not precisely impress in opposition to an unheralded opponent. Munoz was there to be hit with practically each shot all through the battle, however Franklin couldn’t do sufficient injury to come back near a stoppage and Munoz remained recreation all through, forcing Franklin to go the space and eradicating any notion of Franklin as a future title challenger.
- Elvis Rodriguez def. Viktor Postol by way of TKO7 on Showtime — Whereas Postol’s finest days are properly behind him, this was a positive exhibiting for Rodriguez. After getting the jab working, Rodriguez began to batter Postol, damaging his nostril and ultimately managing to search out the end in Spherical 7 after scoring a knockdown within the sixth spherical.
