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Omar Douglas Wins Back & Forth
Battle Over Frank De Alba
Photos: Lucas Noonan - PBC
Unbeaten Omar Douglas (16-0, 11 KOs) gritted out a
10-round majority decision over Frank De Alba (17-2-2, 6
KOs) on Tuesday night's edition of Premier Boxing
Champions (PBC) TOE-TO-TOE TUESDAYS on FS1 and BOXEO DE
CAMPEONES on FOX Deportes from Sands Bethlehem Event
Center in Bethlehem, Pa.
Douglas started to turn up the heat up in round two as
he landed two hard left hooks that stopped De Alba in
his tracks. De Alba was able to gain confidence in round
three, as he was able to counter effectively against
Douglas.
Round five had the best two-way action of the first half
of the fight with both guys digging deep to gain an
advantage. Douglas seemed to get the better of the
exchanges as he landed the harder combinations. Douglas
began to take over the middle rounds and in round eight,
a left hook rocked De Alba and put him in danger for
this first time in the fight.
The two fought hard down the stretch and excited the
crowd with Douglas winning in the end by majority
decision by scores of 97-93, 96-94 and 95-95.
In the co-main event, Miguel Cruz (12-0, 11 KOs)
remained perfect by scoring a seventh-round stoppage
over Virgil Green (11-4, 3 KOs) in a scheduled
eight-round welterweight battle.
Cruz was dominant throughout the fight and in round four
he rocked Green with a left hook that had his opponent
stumbling into the corner. In round seven, Cruz landed a
perfect right and left hook that put Green down.
Sensing his moment, Cruz quickly finished the deal with
two hard lefts that forced referee Benjy Esteves to stop
the fight at 1:32 of round seven. Cruz's power punches
proved to be most dangerous as he connected on 46
percent of them.
In the televised opener, Christopher Brooker (7-1, 5
KOs) worked hard and earned an eight-round unanimous
decision over previously undefeated Leo Hall in a light
heavyweight bout.
Brooker controlled most of the action and came out with
a strong first round landing some solid punches in close
on Hall. In round five, Brooker landed a solid
combination that sent Hall back to the ropes and had him
in trouble. He was far more accurate throughout the
night, landing 49 percent of his total punches and 53
percent of his power punches.
In his strongest moment of the fight in round seven,
Brooker landed a perfect right on the chin that drew a
big reaction from crowd. The judges scored the fight
80-72 and 79-73 twice all for Brooker.
Here is what the fighters had to say Tuesday:
OMAR DOUGLAS
"I feel great. I got some great rounds. The judges might
have made it a little bit closer than it really was. But
I went into his hometown and did what I do.
"He was about as tough as my last fight. The only thing
tougher than the last one was that I had to come here on
the road and do it.
"This builds me. It makes me a better fighter. I had a
great opportunity tonight and I jumped on it. I feel
like I'm the better fighter and tonight I proved it."
FRANK DE ALBA
"It was a very competitive fight. I think I landed more
punches. He was more aggressive, but I was landing more.
"This is boxing. I just come here to put on a show for
the great fans. I thought I won the fight. I knew I beat
him inside."
MIGUEL CRUZ
"It was a great fight, he was a tough opponent who was
very agile and mobile. I had to be patient and it was
great to get those rounds. I'm coming for the 147-pound
division.
"I was definitely trying to break him down slowly. He
was mobile, but I didn't expect him to be so quick.
"I was hurting him every time I hit him and I finally
got him out of there."
VIRGIL GREEN
"The hits to the back of the head were the problem. I
wanted the ref to do something about it but that's what
hurt me. I never recovered from it.
"I felt like I was frustrating him and out-boxing him.
But I never recovered from that blow."
CHRISTOPHER BROOKER
"It was a good fight. He's a good boxer, but I had to
keep it rough. He has some good experience that kicked
in, but my will, my heart and my training kicked in too.
"My loss is what got me motivated for this performance.
No more setbacks, only get backs."
LEO HALL
"I tried to work, We were working in there. I wasn't
surprised by anything. It was a good fight.
"I pushed myself. We got in there and fought. There's no
excuses. We're going back to work."
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