The exciting ESPN Friday Night Fights boxing event at the Richard J. Codey Arena in West Orange, New Jersey was headlined by a pair of Dominican fighters who impressed the crowd by scoring brutal knockouts.
The exciting night of boxing was headlined by the 10-round main event, featuring undefeated Philippine Jundy Maraon (15-0-1, 12 KOs) who took on undefeated NABA and WBA Fedelatin Bantamweight Champion Juan Carlos Payano (13-0, 7 KOs). Round one started with both fighters being cautious of their opponent’s power. Before the end of the first round, Payano suffered a cut over his right eye due to an accidental head butt and Maraon seemed to have a slight edge over his opponent. Payano took the role of the aggressor and in contrast Maraon fought a more tactical fight, often counterpunching Payano and avoiding his power. Maraon managed to drop Payano in round 3 and Maraon seemed to be winning the fight with ease. Payano was starting to find the mark with his overhand left and in the 7th round he landed an overhand left which knocked out Maraon cold and left the spectators in shock. There would be no need for referee Randy Newman to count as it was clear Maraon was in bad shape and he called the bout at 39 seconds of the 7th.
In the eight-round super-bantamweight co-feature, New Jersey’s Jorge “King” Diaz (17-1, 10 KOs) faced Yenifel Vicente (24-1-2, 16 KOs) for the WBC Fecarbox Super Bantamweight Title. With a combined record of 26 KOs in 41 fights the co-feature bout promised to be full of fireworks and fans were not disappointed. Vicente came out like a bull in round one applying pressure and making Diaz very uncomfortable. Diaz fought backing up most of the time but managed to land a few bombs which staggered Vicente. The Dominican fighter seemed to be taking over the fight and his body punches seemed to be hurting Diaz and taking him out of his game. Vicente landed a few uppercuts that hurt Diaz and had him backpedaling to avoid further punishment. In round 4, Vicente caught Diaz with a solid left hook to the head which dropped Diaz to the canvas at 1:27. Diaz was back on his feet before Referee Esteves gave Diaz the full count but Vicente pounced on him landing bombs and forcing Esteves to stop the fight at 2:02 on the same round.
Undercards:
4 Rounds – Welterweights
Shakur Jackson (0-0,1 No Contest) scores his first win defeating Michael Pickett (1-4, 0 KOs) at 2:03 of the 2nd round when Pickett’s corner stops the fight.
4 Rounds – Heavyweights
Tyrell Wright (1-0, 0 KO) gets knocked down by Moises Marshall (0-0-1) in the first round but came back to win knocking down Marshall 3 times in the second round and forcing the Referee to stop the fight at 2:03.
4 Rounds – Lightweights
Rickey Edwards (1-0, 1KO) continues his undefeated record with a 1st round stoppage of Larry Yanez (3-4-2, 0 KO)
6 Rounds – Light Heavyweights
Lavarn Harvell (12-0, 7 KOs) wins via UD with scores of 60-53, 59-54, 58-55 against Paul Vazquez (9-3-1, 3KOs)
4 Rounds – Welterweights
Anthony Gangemi (3-0, 3KOs) gets the win via split decision against Anthony Prescott (1-1-1, 1KO) – Judges’ scores were 38-38, 40-36, 39-36
6 Rounds Heavyweights
Antoine Douglas (7-0, 5KOs) add another notch to his undefeated record against Ibaheim King (11-8, 5 KOs). King’s corner stopped the fight at 3:00 of the 3rd round
The card was presented by Greg Cohen Promotions and GH3 Promotions in association with Acquinity Sports and First Round Promotions.
