| |
|
|
Luis Nery Secures Victory Against Azat Hovhannisyan In WBC Title Eliminator,
Fight Of The Year Candidate
Photos: Cris Esqueda - Golden Boy
Golden Boy Promotions delivered on the promise to gift
fans with a Fight of the Year candidate, as the all-out
brawl between Luis “Pantera” Nery (34-1, 26 KOs) of
Tijuana, Mexico and Armenian-born Azat “Crazy A”
Hovhannisyan (21-4, 17 KOs) of Los Angeles kept fans on
their feet bellowing a chorus of cheers in support of
both fighters as the two went to war. The WBC Super
Bantamweight Title Eliminator was scheduled for
12-rounds, and the referee stopped the fight at 1:51 in
round 11. The event, presented in association with
Zanfer Boxing, took place at the Fox Theater Pomona and
was broadcast exclusively worldwide on DAZN.
“I knew this was going to be a very difficult fight,
Azat is a very tough fighter,” said Luis Nery. “We gave
the fans an incredible show. I want the winner between
Naoya Inoue and Stephen Fulton. I feel ready for a world
championship.”
“We are disappointed in this outcome, but that’s
boxing,” said Azat Hovhannisyan. “There was a lot of
back-and-forth action, and we did all that we could.”
Special VIP guests of the night included Chairman and
CEO of Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya, Golden Boy Partner
Bernard Hopkins, Mayor of Pomona Tim Sandoval, former
seven-time world champion and Hall of Famer “Sugar”
Shane Mosley, Actor Mario Lopez, three-division world
champion Vasily Lomachenko, and Golden Boy fighters
including “Zurdo” Ramirez, “Scrappy” Ramirez, Alexis
Rocha, Jousce Gonzalez, Yokasta Valle and more.
In the co-main event, Shane Mosley, Jr. (19-4, 10 KOs)
went the distance in a 10-round super middleweight fight
against Chihuahua, Mexico’s Mario “Aguila” Lozano
(33-11, 24 KOs). The two went back and forth for a
majority of the bout, Mosley finding a rhythm in the
later rounds. The judges scored the bout 100-90, 99-91,
99-91.
“This fight showed me that I still have room to sharpen
up a bit," said Shane Mosley, Jr. "I only had three
weeks to prepare, so all things considered, I feel like
I got the job done. He’s fought with some tough guys so
I knew this was going to be a hard fight. I wanted to
get a big KO in front of the hometown crowd and make a
statement. I was willing to be a lot riskier. My dream
is still to become a world champion, and I’m going to do
it.”
Ricardo “El Niño” Sandoval (21-2, 16 KOs) of Rialto
showed off his impressive skills with a dazzling,
second-round knockout of Jerson Ortiz (17-7, 8 KOs) of
Managua, Nicaragua. Scheduled as a 10-round flyweight
bout, Sandoval took care of business with a power shot
to the body at 2:46 in the second round that sent Ortiz
to the mat.
“This fight proves that I am a top-level flyweight,"
said Ricardo Sandoval. "I am ready to take on bigger
names in my division, and I want the bigger fights. I
had watched a couple of his videos before, so I knew he
was a dirty fighter. I had told the referee about the
head butting so he was aware.”
Opening up the DAZN broadcast, Rowdy “Legend” Montgomery
(9-4-1, 6 KOs) of Victorville defeated the resilient
Christian “Ruso” Olivas (22-9, 19 KOs) of San Ysidro in
an eight-round super middleweight match. Montgomery won
via unanimous decision.
For the Nery vs. Hovhannisyan preliminary bouts, Asa
“Ace” Stevens (4-0, 2 KO) of Waianae, Hawaii added a
knockout to his record with a victory over Jenn Gonzalez
(9-17-1, 5 KOs) of Santa Teresa, Nicaragua. Gonzalez
quit on the stool after the second round.
Opening the night with a stellar debut, Odessa,
Ukraine’s Andrii Novytski (1-0, 1 KO) made a statement
with a knockout victory over Gabriel Costa (1-4) of
Woburn, Missouri. Scheduled for four-rounds, the
heavyweight bout only made it to 1:22 of the first
round.
|
|
|
