Las Vegas, NV, USA: Super Welter: Ishe Smith (29-8) W PTS 10 Frank Galarza (17-2-2). Super Welter: Justin DeLoach (16-1) W PTS 10 Dominique Dolton (17-1-1). Super Middle: J’Leon Love (23-1,1ND) W TKO 6 Dashon Johnson (21-20-3,1ND). Super Bantam: Jose Cayetano (20-4) W PTS 10 Alexis Santiago (21-4-1). Super Light: Sharif Bogere (29-1,1ND) W TKO 8 Luis E Florez (21-5). Super Middle: Decarlo Perez (16-5-1) W PTS 8 Lanell Bellows (16-2-1).Light Heavy: Lionell Thompson (17-4) W PTS 8 Donovan George (25-6-2,1ND).
Smith vs. Galarza
Smith keeps his hopes of another title fight alive with a majority decision over Galarza. After just having the better of the first round Smith scored with a straight right in the second that put Galarza down. Smith is not a big puncher and Galarza survived without too much trouble. Smith tried to capitalise on that success but the third was a slow round and a close one. Galarza started the fourth well forcing Smith to the ropes and landing some good combinations and the round closed with some of the best action of the fight. Smith was back in charge in the fifth landing with good body shots and quick combinations and he was fired up enough to land a couple of punches after the bell but got away with it. Galarza showed better in the seventh with a body attack but he was not hurting or slowing Smith. The seventh saw Galarza again trying to force Smith to the ropes but he lacked accuracy with Smith blocking shots and using his skills to find punching room. Galarza tried to force the fight again in the eighth and ninth and had gone some way towards closing the points gap but Smith had a big last round as a desperate Galarza left himself open to counters. Scores 96-93, 95-94 for Smith and 95-95. Although he seemed to coast too much in the middle rounds the 38-year-old Smith looked a clear winner. Losses to Carlos Molina, Erislandy Lara and Vanes Martirosyan put the former IBF champion’s career in jeopardy but this victory plus a win over useful Tony Rainone in December means he still has a toe hold. Brooklyn’s Galarza, 31, gets his second loss in a row following a sixth round stoppage by Jarrett Hurd in November but should not be too discouraged. If you consider that the second was a 10-8 round then only the knockdown cost him a draw and if he had won the round he would have won the fight.
DeLoach vs. Dolton
DeLoach continues his run of useful wins with unanimous decision over Dolton although by widely different scores. As Dolton struggled to shed a year’s rust DeLoach pocketed the first two rounds to put himself on the way to victory. Dolton banged back in the third using pressure to overcome the better boxing of DeLoach and he evened up the scores landing with some heavy artillery. In the fifth a clash of heads saw Dolton suffer a bad cut on the bridge of the nose with the suspicion that the nose might even be broken. DeLoach boxed on the outside and countered a bloody visaged Dolton in the sixth and seventh. The fight was slipping away from Dolton but he stormed back to take the eighth but the success was short-lived as DeLoach had a big ninth landing hard uppercuts on a bloody Dolton. In the last Dolton made a huge effort but again DeLoach used his better boxing to ease his way to victory. Scores 99-91, 98-92 and 96-94 all for DeLoach. An inside the distance loss to 7-2 Cesar Vila in February 2015 put a question mark over DeLoach but going into this one he had scored good wins over Santos Benavides and unbeaten fighters Dillon Cook and Junior Castillo. It was his first ten round fight and he is ready to move up. Kronk fighter Dolton, 26, had drawn with unbeaten Mexican Olympian Oscar Molina in September last year and this was his first fight since then. The nose will take some time to heal but he will be back.
Love vs. Johnson
Love gets his fifth win in a row as he stops the unpredictable Johnson. The end came in the sixth when a tremendous right uppercut put Johnson down. Somehow Johnson made it to his feet but was very wobbly and the follow up attack from Johnson saw his corner throw in the towel and the referee stop the fight .To say Johnson was angry would be an understatement. He chased his second out of the ring all of the way back to the dressing rooms. Love gradually rebuilding after a shock third round kayo loss to Rogelio Medina in 2014. The 28-year-old Mayweather Team fighter has 13 wins by KO/TKO and is No 9(8) with the IBF and will be hoping for a title fight before the end of 2017. “Fly Boy” Johnson had won 6 of his last 7 fights with the loss being on points against Jesse Hart.
Cayetano vs. Santiago
Cayetano makes sure it is not a 100% night for the Mayweather team as he closes strongly to take a unanimous decision over Santiago. Santiago made the stronger start but with Cayetano keeping it close. A turning point came in the fifth when a right from Cayetano caused Santiago to sag at the knees and almost go down. Santiago fought back hard rocking Cayetano in the seventh but faded from there. They pounded away in the last round with Cayetano rocking Santiago time and again with head punches but Santiago showed grit and tried to keep firing back through the storm. Scores 96-94 twice and 97-93 all for Cayetano. The 29-year-old “El Tigre” from Tijuana wins the vacant NABF title. His career was rocking for a while after losses to Alejandro Gonzalez, Enrique Bernache and Leo Santa Cruz but he boosted it with a very good win over Felipe Orucuta in December. “Beaver” Santiago”, 25, was on a roll with ten wins on the bounce with some good level opposition in there so this was a big setback.
Bogere vs. Florez
The Ugandan “Lion” rolls on. Bogere was giving away a huge amount in height and reach with the Colombian almost a full head higher . However Bogere slowly broke down the reed-thin Florez forcing the referee to halt the fight in the eighth round. The 27-year-old Bogere lost the biggie when being defeated on points by Richar Abril for the WBA light title in 2013. He then took 13 months out and is now 6-0,1ND in his last 7 fights but he has a long way to go to get back in the title picture. Florez sprang a huge upset when he crushed Miguel Berchelt in 99 seconds back in 2014. Still the only loss for the 30-1 WBA interim champion. However life has not been so rosy recently as he was coming of successive loses to Jamel Herring and Regis Prograis.
Perez vs. Bellows
Perez gets much needed win as he takes split decision over Bellows. Scores 78-75 twice for Perez and 75-74 for Bellows. The 25-year-old “3mendo”- a more inventive nickname than some-from Atlantic City. He had scored some useful wins over Ty Brunson 22-2-1 and Juan Ubaldo Cabrera 23-0 but was having a 2016 with a brutal kayo loss to Rob Brant in January and a unanimous verdict loss to Dashon Johnson. He will be hoping to kick on from here. Bellows, 30, had won 10 in a row and reversed his only loss but goes back down a couple of notches.
Thompson vs. George
With a sequence of W-L-W-L “Lonnie B” was due a win and he got one here as he took a unanimous verdict over George. Two of his losses have been to Sergey Kovalev and Radivoje Kalajdzic and he has a win over Ryan Coyne but he needs to be more active and find some consistency. “Da Bomb” George was a huge draw in Chicago when he when he went 20-0-1 with 17 wins by KO/TKO at the start of his career but then losses to Francisco Sierra, Edwin Rodriguez, Adonis Stevenson in an IBF eliminator, and Caleb Truax dealt his hopes heavy blows. Things went from bad to worse as he scored what looked a good win over Dyah Davis in August 2014 only to test positive for a banned substance and did not fight again until losing on points against Sean Monaghan in October last year. This is his first fight since then.
