Photo by Juan Diaz – Round By Round Boxing
Rising prospect and 2008 Olympian Sadam Ali (20-0, 12 KOs) scored a close split decision victory over Jeremy Bryan (17-4, 7 KOs) at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
The ten-round Welterweight fight headlined Showtime Extreme’s televised undercard coverage of the non-title Welterweight fight between Danny Garcia and Rod Salka.
In a fight in which there was much ebb and flow in the early rounds, Sadam Ali managed to increase his power punch output in the later rounds to secure a victory.
In round four, however, the bout seemed to be in danger for Ali, as Bryan was controlling the fight and eventually hurt Ali with a counter left hook.
In the following round, Ali would land a counter left hook of his own, which wobbled Bryan’s feet.
The rounds continued being close until the ninth round when Ali, urged by his corner to increase his pressure, stepped forward with a combination that Bryan responded with a left hook.
Ali immediately countered Bryan’s left hook with one of his own, finishing the knockdown with a short right to the back of Bryan’s head.
Ali continued his pressure into the tenth and final round.
One judge scored the bout 96-93 for Bryan, while two judges scored the bout the same for Ali, who earned the WBO Intercontinental Welterweight title.
In the co-feature of Showtime Extereme’s undercard coverage, Zachary Ochoa (8-0, 4 KOs) was awarded a tough unanimous decision victory over Luis Alberto Cervantes (7-8-3, 2 KOs) in a six-round Lightweight fight.
Ochoa sought to use his jab and one-two combination early, but after the first two rounds he was overwhelmed by Cervantes’ pressure, who ceaselessly assaulted Ochoa with vicious body shots.
Cervantes continued landing hard body shots in the later rounds, although taking many punches in the process.
The fight was much closer than scored, as Frank Lombardi scored the bout 59-55 for Ochoa, while Tony Lundy and Carlos Ortiz scored the bout 60-54 for the same man.
In the first televised bout, Anthony Peterson (34-1, 22 KOs) scored a first-round knockout victory over Edgar Riovalle (37-19-3, 26 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round Welterweight fight.
Peterson, the 29-year-old brother of Lamont Peterson, needed only a quick combination to stop Riovalle, who was immediately dropped after powerful shots to the temple.
