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ESPN Friday Night Fights: Muriqi vs. Caparello Recap

Blake Caparello (19-0, 6 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Elvir Muriqi (40-5, 24 KOs) in the main event of the January 31, 2014 edition of Friday Night Fights.

Muriqi Ed Diller Photo by DiBella Ent./Ed Diller

Blake Caparello (19-0, 6 KOs) won a unanimous decision over Elvir Muriqi (40-5, 24 KOs) in the main event of the January 31, 2014 edition of Friday Night Fights.

As a veteran of the sport for fifteen years, Muriqi once fought Antonio Tarver for a vacant IBF title in 2007. Muriqi went into tonight’s fight with six consecutive wins, but had not fought for over a year.

Despite his experience, Muriqi could not deal with Caparello’s awkward style. The Australian made a successful American debut by using his height and reach advantage to keep Caparello off of him for ten rounds.

Caparello remains undefeated, and the judges scored the bout 100-90, 100-90, 98-92.

In the co-main event, undefeated prospect Luis Rosa (16-0, 7 KOs) took on Jorge Diaz (17-3, 10 KOs) in a Junior Featherweight fight.

The fight began at a quick pace, with both fighters throwing combination punches. Diaz’s momentum was stopped, however, by a low blow that was landed in a powerful exchange.

By third round, Rosa was clearly in control, landing a solid left hook that wobbled Diaz. Diaz tried to recover, falling down as he grabbed Rosa to engage in a clinch. The referee, not seeing how Diaz was fell, ruled it a knockdown.

The fourth round began at a similar pace and Diaz was knocked down again, this time by a solid right hand. Rosa continued his quick pace and outworked Diaz for the rest of the fight. The final two rounds, in fact, had Diaz taking a lot of damage.

The judges scored the bout 78-72, 79-71, 80-70. Diaz was subsequently taken to a hospital. ESPN‘s Bernardo Osuna reported that Diaz “will go to a local hospital for a CT scan and observation for head trauma.”

 

 

The first televised bout featured the debut of Dusty Harrison-Hernandez as he took on Tim Witherspoon Jr. (10-4, 2 KOs) in an 8-round Welterweight fight.

Harrison-Hernandez used his size and strength advantage to overpower Witherspoon, often taking several punches as he swung for the fences without properly closing the distance with a jab.

Harrison won the fight clearly on all cards, but relied heavily on his strength to overpower Witherspoon and was often hit with shots as he came in. Harrison-Hernandez has been receiving a lot of attention on various social media networks and remains undefeated with 20 fights.

The fight’s conclusion demonstrated the amount of emotion invested in the fight. Both fighters are trained by their fathers and both could be seen arguing with each other after the bout’s final bell.

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