On the 28th of January two outrageous boxing events took place, where in one of them in England WBC, WBO, and IBF world champion Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 18 KOs) faced a powerful British challenger Anthony Yarde (23-3, 22 KOs) to defend his titles, and in the second one, already in the U.S., Alexis Rocha (22-1, 14 KOs), rated fourth by the WBO, competed against George Ashie (33-6-1, 25 KOs).
As a result of the first event, the three-belt Russian champion was put to the test during a nail-biting bout in the English city, but the 38-year-old finally prevailed by catching Yarde with a trademark right-hand to conclude the epic fight in a characteristically brutal way.
“Anthony showed what he is, the character he's got. He was winning. He had to go through some tough moments. I'm so proud of him, he's an incredible guy. It was a tough fight for both men. Anthony Yarde against any other light-heavyweight in the world becomes a world champion. With that performance, I don't think anyone else could have lived with him,” commented Frank Warren.
Official fight highlights: Watch highlights Youtube
In the co-main event, Artem Dalakian (22-0, 15 KOs), the WBA World Flyweight Champion, defeated David "Medallita" Jimenez (12-1, 9 KOs), the WBA Gold World Flyweight Champion, in a very close fight in 12 rounds. Also in the undercard, Karol Itauma (9-1, 7 KOs) was stopped by Ezequiel Osvaldo (29-10, 19 KOs), Charles 'Boom Boom' Frankham (7-0, 2 KOs) defeated Joshua Ocampo (8-11-4, 6 KOs), Tommy 'The Norfolk Nightmare' Fletcher (4-0, 3 KOs) won in a fight with Darryl Sharp (7-97-1, 1 KOs) and a heavyweight Moses “Enriko” Itauma (1-0, 1 KOs) knocked out Marcel Bode (2-2, 2 KOs).
At the same time in Inglewood, California, welterweight contender Alexis had to work hard before dispatching his opponent in the seventh round. The fight was ended after Rocha dropped Ashie twice, once in the third round and once more in the seventh when he was nailed in a highlight-reel knockout after taking a massive right hand.
“I wanted to make a statement,” said Alexis Rocha. “Crawford is next. But if that can’t happen, I want all the big names."
In the co-main event of the night, Floyd "Kid Austin" Schofield (13-0, 10 KOs) won the vacant WBA International Lightweight Title in a 10-round contest against Alberto Mercado (17-4-2, 4 KOs) after receiving a unanimous 100-89 decision from the three judges. In the undercard Alejandro “Pinpon” Reyes (10-0, 5 KOs) secured a unanimous decision victory against Jose Zaragoza (9-6-2, 3 KOs), Adan Palma (5-0, 4 KOs) defeated Pedro Salome (3-1-3, 1 KO) and Daniel “Junebug” Garcia (4-0, 3 KOs) stopped Jonathan “Popeye” Perez (40-34, 32 KOs).
You can watch full card highlights here: Watch highlights Youtube
Image Credit: Sky Sports