Middleweight Christopher Pearson bookends his last month on social media with a crucial upset victory and an announcement of a multi-fight deal with Golden Boy
Christopher Pearson, a standout amateur and a resurgent Middleweight, may be able to show residents of his hometown Trotwood, Ohio a thing or two about rebuilding. And Pearson’s 10-round unanimous decision victory, May 2, over then unbeaten Yamaguchi Falcao couldn’t have been any more apropos. On Memorial Day evening, and into the following morning, 15 confirmed tornadoes touched down throughout the Miami Valley, damaging homes and businesses across Dayton, Riverside, Brookville and Trotwood.
With the thrilling comeback win versus Falcao (16-1, 7 KOs), Pearson left The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada as the new WBC Middleweight Latino champion. The fight was the main event of a “Golden Boy Fight Night” card that also streamed live on Facebook Watch via the Golden Boy Fight Night page – the stream’s number of views currently exceeds 405,000.
The fight also served as part of Golden Boy’s lead-up to its May 4 event that featured the Middleweight title unification bout between The Ring Magazine/WBA/WBC champion Canelo Alvarez and IBF beltholder Daniel Jacobs, which took place across town at the T-Mobile Arena.
Pearson (17-2, 12 KOs) held a 1-0 advantage versus Falcao, as the two fought as amateurs in 2011 in a World Series of Boxing bout. The 31-year-old Falcao, a Golden Boy promoted fighter, was the WBC’s No. 9 ranked Middleweight in the world, and expected to position him for a world title shot by avenging his loss to Pearson.
With two losses on his record, and building momentum behind two consecutive wins by knockout, the 28-year-old southpaw from Trotwood needed a high profile win to further put aside a second round knockout loss to Justin DeLoach back in February of 2017. Pearson weathered a fast start by Falcao to seize control over the second half of the fight. After outworking the Brazilian – a 2012 Olympic bronze medalist – for a few rounds Pearson nearly capped off his rally with a stoppage, or at least a knock down, in the 10th and final round. The judges scored the contest 97-93, and 96-94 on two cards.
Veteran trainer Manny Robles guided Pearson through Falcao’s fast start, and helped to positively redirect his emotional energy towards inflicting punishment against Falcao over the final four rounds. A couple of weeks later on May 18 Robles watched his former pupil Dominic Breazeale get flattened by a first round highlight reel right hand from WBC Heavyweight champion Deontay Wilder. For his second title shot Breazeale opted to go with trainer Virgil Hunter. On June 1, Robles accompanied Andy Ruiz Jr. as the Imperial, California native’s chief second versus unified Heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua. The result was a seventh round technical knockout regarded as the division’s biggest upset since Hasim Rahman dethroned Lennox Lewis via a fourth round knockout in November of 2001.
Pearson’s gritty effort impressed future Hall of Famer Bernard Hopkins, a former undisputed Middleweight champion and current minority partner of Golden Boy Promotions, who served as the ringside analyst on the fight’s commentary team. In an Instagram post earlier today, June 6, Pearson’s caption for a photo of him, in Downtown Los Angeles at Golden Boy’s offices, at a table signing some documents indicated that he had been rewarded for his resilient win.
Pearson’s caption stated, “It’s Official! Thank you to @GoldenBoy Promotions for this new multiple fight deal I just signed… new belts & new money… otw! #stayatit2h.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/ByY2iP0BFFH/
Prior to Pearson’s 2017 loss to DeLoach the southpaw was a key figure on the Mayweather Promotions roster. In 2018 Pearson briefly appeared on the Real Deal Sports and Entertainment website as part of Evander Holyfield’s fledgling boxing promotions. And now he finds a home with another legendary former fighter in GB’s Oscar De La Hoya – a six division world champion.
Tough fighters are forged in tough towns, so as Pearson embarks on the next part of his journey in boxing, he’ll undoubtedly do so with Trotwood on his back. He’s already shown what’s possible when you stay at it.
Featured image by Showtime
