In the opening bout of the evening, Marcus Browne (19-0, 14 KOs)knocked down Thomas Williams Jr. (20-3, 14 KOs) three times on his way to a sixth-round KO (:42).
The southpaw vs. southpaw scrap was chippy from the opening bell. Browne capitalized on his significant reach advantage and controlled the distance with his jab, as Williams struggled to fight effectively on the inside.
In a bizarre second round, the undefeated 2012 U.S. Olympian scored a knockdown with a straight right and then cracked Williams with a left hook to the back of his head while he was on his knee. After some confusion, referee Ken Miliner correctly deducted a point from Browne and gave Williams five minutes to rest. Williams took the nearly full five minute allotment but never seemed the same when he returned.
Browne floored Williams again in the fourth with a counter right hook, Williams beat the count but consistently ate shots as he struggled to gauge the distance. The third and final knockdown of the fight happened courtesy of a right hook in the opening minute of the sixth. Williams remained on the canvas complaining of an injured jaw, and failed to beat the 10 second count.
“He didn’t’ look like he went down, so I made sure he went down,” Browne said of the incident in the second round. “He was trying to stand up in the squat position so I pushed him down a bit more. He was in a squat – I didn’t see his gloves. I’m sorry. I wasn’t being dirty.”
The Staten Island native then called out WBC Light Heavyweight World Champion Adonis Stevenson: “Adonis, just give me my chance. Let’s go. I want that strap.”
Saturday’s tripleheader will re-air Monday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME. It is also available on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND and SHOWTIME ANYTIME.
All photos by Stephanie Trapp/Showtime
