In the night’s first fight, Max Garland (7-0) dominated Gil Garcia (5-8-1). In the first round, Garland stayed behind the jab, using that to open up Garcia to the left hook. As the round wore on, Garland started going to Garcia’s body.
In the second round, Garland continued to work Garcia’s body with both the right and left hooks. As Garcia started to bend down to protect the body, Garland landed several uppercuts.
In the third round, a left uppercut stunned Garcia. Garland used that opportunity to return to the body until action was temporarily stopped for a low blow.
In the fourth round, Garland landed several blows that Garcia didn’t have an answer for, and the referee stopped the fight at 2:45 of the fourth round.
Cornellio Phipps and Gary Hampton staged a more competitive fight than Garland-Garcia. Both fighters burned off some nervous energy in the first round, each having stretches of wildness.
In the second round, both fighters started out trying to establish the jab. Hampton was pressing the action and landing more punches until midway through the round, when Phipps landed multiple punches, pushing Hampton back.
The distance closed up in the third round, with Phipps fighting off the front foot while Hampton tried to counter. In the second half of the round, Hampton made more of an effort to get off first, producing more success.
Hampton got the best of Phipps in the fourth round. Hampton kept the fight at close quarters in the middle of the ring and got off first. In the last 30 seconds of the round, Hampton connected on a short power punch that appeared to hurt Phipps.
The fifth round started with Phipps trying to re-establish the jab, but it wasn’t effective because it didn’t land. Even when Phipps managed to have Hampton on the ropes, his passive nature came back to bite him, and Hampton landed several power shots to push the fight back to the middle of the ring.
Once again, Phipps pushed Hampton back to the ropes, and this time, he was more active. Phipps would land several hooks, but Hampton didn’t respond. Later in the round, Phipps went on the offensive again, landing several shots to the body.
A lot of two-way action in the sixth round as both fighters were breathing harder. Phipps (4-0) took command of the round when Hampton (5-2) was backed into the corner, but Hampton would get the fight back to the middle of the ring where he could do good work.
MTC Media scored the fight 58-56 Phipps. Judges 59-55, 59,55, 58-56 Phipps
How competitive can a fight be when one fighter has a record of 5-16? That’s what the third fight presented when undefeated David Whitmire faced Nelson Morales.
Whitmire spent the first round using his jab to set up the short uppercut or a combination.
The second and third rounds were the same as the first. Whitmire used Morales as a punching bag. His punches were landing hard enough to move Morales around the ring.
The bout sheet listed the fight as a six-round fight, but the announcer said the fourth round was the final round, and Whitmire used the opportunity to hit Morales with every power punch in his arsenal.
MTC Media scored the fight 40-36. All three judges scored it the same. Whitmire moved to 7-0.
In the fourth fight of the night, Benjamin Johnson (Washington D.C.) scored an early knockout (1:20 of the first round) against Igor Santos. Johnson moved to 2-0, while Santos fell to 0-4.
In the second fight of his career, Jordan Roach used a varied attack to defeat Robert Ledesma. Roach scored an early knockdown in the first round when Ledesma was up against the ropes. Later in the round, Roach used a three-punch combination to return Ledesma to the canvas. Roach would score two more knockdowns before the end of the first round. The fight was stopped at 2:59 of the first round. Roach moved to 2-0. Ledesma fell to 3-13-1.
The sixth fight of the night pitted two undefeated fighters against each other. Francois Scarboro, Jr. was seeking his ninth win, while Wayne Lawrence was going for his eighth.
After a rough start to the first round that included a suplex, Scarboro Jr. hit Lawrence with a series of power punches that temporarily hurt Lawrence. By the end of the round, Lawrence had not only recovered but also landed some good shots of his own.
Not only has Lawrence settled down, but he’s dominating the second round. Scarboro Jr. has been wild since he had a little success in the first round.
Lawrence continued establishing the jab and landed heavy shots behind for the next three rounds before Scarboro Jr. showed signs of life in the fifth.
The sixth round saw both fighters having their moments. Scarboro Jr. was landing even though he wasn’t landing many hard punches. Lawrence was landing the heavier shots, especially when he countered with his left hand.
Like in round six, Lawrence sometimes lets Scarboro Jr. outwork him. It’s not heavy punches, but Scarboro Jr. is landing, especially on the body. Lawrence looks like he’s looking for the perfect punch instead of setting up the perfect punch.
The eighth and final round saw a lot of back-and-forth action, with Scarboro Jr. scoring more effectively.
MTC Media scored the fight 76-76. The judges had it 78-74, 78-74, and 77-75 for Scarboro Jr.
Scarboro Jr. improves to 9-0. Lawrence falls to 7-1.
The last fight of the night is between Eric Hernandez (11-1) and Dewayne Zeigler (11-1-1).
Hernandez is fighting out of Ashburn, VA.
The first round was one-sided, with Hernandez bringing all the action to the table. Zeigler did nothing more than eat punches and shake his head.
The second round was much the same, with Zeigler trying to engage in the round, but Hernandez landed several uppercuts and crushing body shots.
The third round was Zeigler’s best round of the fight. He landed several combinations that backed up Hernandez at times. Some punches were for slapping, but he fought on the front foot and carried the action.
It was a good round for both fighters. When Zeigler decides to engage, he lands clean punches. The question in that round was, did he engage enough? Hernandez was the busier fighter, and he landed his share of punches.
It was another entertaining round. Like the last round, Hernandez landed more punches, but it can be argued that Zeigler landed the cleaner punches. It baffles me that Zeigler isn’t busier. If he’s losing the close rounds, it’s because he’s not busy enough.
Hernandez owned the first half of the round, with Zeigler landing punches and talking trash in the second half. At times, Zeigler is doing great work to the body.
The last two rounds were a carbon copy of most of the fight.
MTC Media scores the fight 78-74 for Hernandez. The official scorecards had 79-73, 80-72, and 78-74.
