After two exciting fights from the Pala Casino in California, the Friday, March 7, 2014 edition of ESPN 2’s Friday Night Fights ended on an unfortunate note with Marvin Quintero (25-5, 21 KOs) retiring after Round 4 due to a broken hand, awarding Rustam Nugaev (27-6-1, 17 KOs) a TKO victory.
Nugaev came out in Round 1 like he normally does, walking his opponent down and willing to take two punches to land one. Quintero used his movement and quicker hands to throw combinations from a distance and did a good job of keeping Nugaev off balance.
Quintero did a fairly good job of sticking and moving for the next couple of rounds, but there were a few moments when Nugaev got the skilled Mexican to fight on his terms—in close quarters.
The end of Round 2 produced serious fireworks and surprisingly, Quintero got the best of some of the inside exchanges.
Nugaev was relentless in his strategy, coming forward even while eating stiff combinations from Quintero.
In Round 4 Nugaev came out possessed, digging hooks to the body of Quintero and finding more opportunities to back his opponent against the ropes.
The style of the fight certainly shifted to a phone booth type of fight as Nugaev’s bodywork looked like it was starting to take its toll.
Quintero fought hard and had success just as the bell rang to end an exciting round, but unfortunately for the fans, the main event came to an when Quintero was forced to quit.
Quintero was visibly upset with the outcome as he seemed to be up on most people’s scorecards–including ESPN analyst Teddy Atlas.
The fight was exciting and fans will definitely welcome a rematch.
What a bummer. Outstanding scrap terminated by hand injury. Rematch, anybody?
— Nigel Collins (@ESPNFNF) March 8, 2014
In the second fight of the evening, Roman Morales (18-0, 9 KOs) took on Khabib Suleymanov (16-4, 6 KOs) in an eight-round matchup.
Both men opened up the fight determined, as Suleymanov played the bull, coming forward trying to catch Morales with looping shots.
Suleymanov got away with lazy punches—namely the jab—as Morales immediately demonstrated that he was the more technical of the two.
Morales came out energized in Round 2, wasting no time rushing Suleymanov and dropping him with a big right hand. After dropping Suleymanov, Morales continued to focus on working his jab to set up a sharp right hand and effectively buzzed his opponent once again.
With just 20 seconds left in the round, Morales caught Suleymanov leaning forward and knocked him down again, capping off a big round.
Suleymanov was repeatedly caught throwing a lazy jab throughout the middle rounds, while Morales was ready at all times to counter.
Throughout the fight, Morales did a great job of dealing with the awkward style of his opponent, all while having to deal with numerous head butts.
In the eighth and final round, Morales came out motivated to close the show in exciting fashion. He was able to score two more knockdowns with hard right hands, bringing the knockdown total to five.
Roman Morales UD8 Khabir Suleymanov (79-68, 79-68, 80-67) #boxing #fnf Suleymanov down 5 times.
— Ryan Bivins (@sweetboxing) March 8, 2014
In the first bout of the evening, Welterweight prospect Dusty Hernandez-Harrison (21-0, 11 KOs) made his second appearance on Friday Night Fights, taking on southpaw Michael Belasi (10-4, 7 KOs).
Hernandez-Harrison started the bout calm, using his height and reach advantage as he worked his jab.
This was a welcomed change compared to Hernandez-Harrison’s Friday Night Fights debut against Tim Witherspoon Jr. in January when the teenage sensation spent too much time brawling on the inside.
Good movement and well-placed punches gave Dusty an early advantage and it seemed as though it may be an early ending for Belasi who had lost his previous two bouts by TKO.
The second round proved to exciting and gave fans back-and-forth action, with both combatants hitting the canvas.
Hernandez-Harrison was wobbled early on, causing him to hold Balasi, but shortly after being buzzed, the DC native landed a combination and scored a knockdown–although upon further review the knockdown was more of a push.
Balasi popped right off the canvas looking to prove that he wasn’t hurt and was able to land a nice left hand that dropped Hernandez-Harrison.
The young prospect rose to his feet and bounced around, giving himself some time to get his leg’s underneath him.
Both fighters made it out of Round 2 and surprisingly, the fight was now up for grabs.
If you’re a fan of Hernandez-Harrison, rounds three and four were exactly what you wanted to see.
Dusty settled back into a groove, working his jab and finding a home for his lengthy lead straight right hand–though he didn’t throw it often enough.
Hernandez-Harrison knocked down Balasi in the fifth with a strong combination, hurting the tough 33-year-old Hawaiian native.
Unlike the first knockdown, Balasi was legitimately hurt after being dropped this time.
As the younger, fresher fighter, Hernandez-Harrison relied on his movement and range to control the pace of the fight and didn’t seem uncomfortable for the rest of the bout, working an intelligent strategy.
The six-round bout was a hard-fought learning experience for Hernandez-Harrison and should serve him well in the future. He has a lot of talent, but at the age of 19 he still has a lot to learn.
59-54 Twice 60-53 winner by UD Dusty Hernandez-Harrison #Boxing #FNF
— RoundByRound Boxing (@RBRBoxing) March 8, 2014
