ESPN 2 kicked off its Light Middleweight Boxcino Tournament on the February 13, 2015 edition of Friday Night Fights.
ESPN is holding two eight-man tournaments, the first of which began tonight featuring four quarterfinal Light Middleweight bouts at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Each of tonight’s fights were scheduled for six rounds, but with one caveat: if a fight ends in a draw after the sixth, it will be continued for a seventh tie-breaking round.
Furthermore, if the seventh round also ends in a draw, three ringside writers will determine which of the two will move into the tournament’s semifinals, which will take place on April 3.
The winner of both tournaments will be awarded a special ESPN Boxcino belt.
Stanyslav Skorokhod (8-0, 6 KOs) knocks out Micheal Moore (13-0, 6 KOs)
In the first quarterfinal fight, Stanyslav Skorokhod knocked out Micheal Moore in the fourth round.
Moore, who had been very inactive before tonight’s tight, was overpowered and outskilled in every round.
In Round 2, Skorokhod found a home for several left hooks that led to knock downs in Rounds 3 and 4 which were caused by right hands.
Referee Mike Ortega, soon after the second knockdown, stopped the fight before Moore could take more unnecessary damage.
John Thompson (14-1, 5 KOs) defeats Ricardo Pinell (10-1-1, 6 KOs)
In the second quarterfinal bout, John Thompson–a last-minute replacement of Cleotis Pendarvis, who did not make weight–scored a unanimous decision over Ricardo Pinell.
Although Thompson was the last-minute replacement, he completely outclassed Pinell in every round.
All Pinell could do was come forward with a high-gaurd and no jab–a terrible game plan against a much taller fighter.
All judges scored the fight 60-54 for Thompson.
John Thompson will now take on Stanyslav Skorokhod in an eight-round semifinal fight on April 3.
Vito Gasparyan (14-3-5, 8 KOs) scores UD victory over Simeon Hardy (13-0, 10 KOs)
In what was thought to be a more exciting fight, Vito Gasparyan scored a unanimous decision victory over Simeon Hardy.
Gasparyan had struggled to stay active during his career and demonstrated this in the way he took a few rounds to let his hands go.
Nevertheless, he was aggressive enough to win the early rounds before upping his output in Rounds 5 and 6.
All judges scored the bout 58-56, 60-54, and 59-55 for Gasparyan.
Brandon Adams (15-1, 10 KOs) KOS Alex Perez in Round 5 (18-1, 10 KOs)
In the final quarterfinal fight, Brandon Adams–who fought his way to last year’s Middleweight Boxing finals–scored a fifth round knockout over Alex Perez.
Adams confidently closed the distance in the early rounds and landed hooks to the body head of Perez.
Perez, who fought without the jab, could not keep a confident Adams off of him.
After struggling with Adams for almost five rounds, Perez was knocked down with a thunderous right hand.
Referee Harvey Dock soon stopped the fight.
Brandon Adams will now face Vito Gasparyan in an eight-round semifinal fight on April 3.
