In a night marked by knockouts, Julian Williams (22-0-1, 14 KOs) stopped a still standing Marcello Matano (16-1, 5 KOs) in the seventh round of an otherwise uneventful fight.
Matano ran from Williams’ shots for the majority of the fight, but offered nothing in return to the now top contender for the IBF Jr. Middleweight crown.
Williams had a noticeable size advantage in the fight and remained patient for most of the bout, only teeing off when Matano stood in front of him and set his feet.
Williams is now in line for champion Jermall Charlo’s IBF belt, though few questions about the contender’s prowess were answered in tonight’s bout.
In the co-features, Antoine Douglas (19-1-1, 13 KOs) and Avtandil Khurtsidze (32-2-2, 21 KOs) electrified the Pennsylvanian crowd with a dramatic brawl that ended with Douglas being knocked out in the final round.
Khurtsidze was brought in as a step up for Douglas and pressured the young prospect relentlessly in a savage performance.
Khurtsidze knocked Douglas down twice on his road to victory and provided a major upset on an otherwise predictable fight card.
For the majority of the fight Douglas was unable to keep the rabid Georgian off of him and paid the price as referee Benji Estevez called a halt to the bout when Douglas was being pounded on the ropes.
Earlier on the card, Tony Harrison (23-1, 19 KOs) scored a dramatic sixth-round knockout as an invigorated Fernando Guerrero (28-4, 20 KOs) began to turn on the pressure.
Guerrero had been knocked down and badly hurt in the second round, but managed to take Harrison into deep waters and gave the prospect something to think about. Harrison—known for his weak gas tank as he was knocked out in a fight he was winning by veteran Willie Nelson last July—began to lose his steam in the fourth round as he started breathing through his mouth noticeably.
As Guerrero turned up the heat, he left a variety of openings which the young boxer puncher Harrison was able to exploit. Harrison put Guerrero down in the sixth with a brutal uppercut.
Guerrero got off the canvas visibly stunned only for Harrison to jump on him and finish him off.
All photos by Marilyn Paulino/RBRBoxing
