Home Boxing News Adams, Skorokhod, Gasparyan, Thompson advance in “Boxcino” tournament

Adams, Skorokhod, Gasparyan, Thompson advance in “Boxcino” tournament

The Boxcino Junior Middleweight tournament quarter-finals took place last night at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Connecticut.

Brandon Adams and Stanyslav Skorokhod stole the show, knocking out their opponents in five and two rounds, respectively. They advanced to the semi-final round of the eight-man elimination-style tournament.

Adams, a participant in last year’s 154-lb Boxcino tournament, steamrolled Alex Perez. The man from Newark had only been defeated once prior — by sixth round knockout against Antoinin Decarie. Adams did one better, winning his second fight into the year and progressing in Boxcino with a fifth round TKO. 8-0 Ukrainian Skorokhod had an even easier night’s work, stopping previously undefeated Michael Moore in four rounds to move forward in his section of the bracket.

Adams will box in the next round against Vito Gasparyan. The Armenian-born Gasparyan started slow against Simeon Hardy, but ultimately toppled the Guyana-born fighter with a six-round unanimous decision. This will be more of a scrappy and entertaining match-up to determine the first of two finalists.

Skorokhod will battle John Thompson next. Thompson was a late replacement for original participant Cleotis Pendarvis, and he did put on a show, outworking Ricardo Pinell behind his jab and long punch combinations. This one pits two well-schooled boxers in what will likely be a more tactical boxing match.

The Boxcino Junior Middleweight semi-finals will take place on April 3rd, live on ESPN’s usual Friday-evening boxing time slot. The finals are set for May 22nd, also broadcast by the same network at 9 PM EST/6 PM PST in the United States.

The winner will potentially find themselves in the Junior Middleweight title picture, and, at very least, left with some name-recognition. Much like it’s predecessors, this Boxcino tournament series will see only the most determined fighters make it out on top of the heap.

The 2015 Heavyweight series begins next Friday, and will have obscure names such as Andrey Fedosov, Donovan Dennis, Nat Heaven, and Razvan Cojanu looking to make themselves known. Three fights can shape a fighter, near and far, and change the entire path of a career. The system implemented in Art Pelullo’s boxing brainchild reversed Petr Petrov from journeyman to fresh face, while Willie Monroe Jr became one of America’s most outstanding prospects.

Will it turn out similarly through the Junior Middleweight and Heavyweight tournaments? So far, I see no reason to expect anything less.