SATURDAY, November 20, 2021
ESPN+ PPV, 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT
Terence Crawford Def. Shawn Porter, TKO Round 10, Crawford Retains WBO Welterweight World Title
The Main Event certainly made up for the lulls in action during the undercard. Champion Terrence Crawford and challenger Shawn Porter delivered a back and forth contest fought at a frenzied pace. Ultimately, Crawford was able to land a couple of his patented counter shots which ended the night for Porter in the 10th following a pair of knockdowns. The stoppage loss was the first of Porter’s career.
Esquiva Falcao Def. Patrice Volny, Technical Decision
In the Co-Main Event, Esquiva Falcao and Patrice Volny each put their undefeated records on the line in an IBF Title Eliminator bout. The action began to pick up in the 5th, with Volny landing a strong combination to finish the round with Falcao seemingly dazed. Unfortunately in the next round, following a hard clash of heads that left Falcao cut and a lengthy delay, the fight was stopped as he couldn’t continue. At the time of the stoppage, two of the judges had Falcao ahead on the scorecards, awarding him the anti-climactic split decision victory.
Janibek Alimkhanuly Def. Hassan N’Dam, TKO Round 8, Alimkhanuly Retains WBC Continental Americas and WBO Global Middleweight Titles
In a 10 round bout, rising undefeated contender Janibek “Qazaq Style” Alimkhanuly took on the experienced veteran Hassan N’Dam of Cameroon. Playing to the crowd in his corner after scoring a knockdown in the 3rd, Alimkhanuly controlled the fight early and never let up. He displayed his comfort and confidence in the ring for the remainder of the fight, dominating N’Dam until the fight was called off in the 8th. Following the first knockdown, the fight seemed destined for a stoppage victory for Alimkhanuly. To N’Dam’s credit, he managed to recover early and bravely fought on, but he still received more than enough damage for the contest to be stopped.
Following the fight, Alimkhanuly credited N’Dam’s toughness:
“I must give credit to N’Dam, a tough former champion who took a lot of punishment.”
Additionally, the contender made his case for a title shot:
“I am ready for a world title shot next. ‘Qazaq Style’ is about to take over the middleweight division. Any champion, it doesn’t matter.”
Raymond Muratalla Def. Elias Araujo, TKO Round 5
Kicking off the PPV, undefeated prospect Raymond Muratalla took on a tough and game opponent in Elias Araujo. Ultimately, Muratalla’s skillset took over to earn him a TKO victory. However, the stoppage felt somewhat abrupt and likely too early, being met with a cascade of boos from the crowd.
ESPN2 & ESPN+, 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT
Isaac Dogboe Def. Christopher Diaz, Majority Decision, Dogboe Retains NABF Featherweight Title
To end the free portion of Saturday’s Crawford-Porter card, former junior featherweight champion Issac Dogboe faced off against former title challenger Christopher Diaz. Throughout the bout, Diaz utilized excellent feints and angles to land a number of big shots, rocking Dogboe on a couple of occasions early on. Dogboe, however, was able to recover and found success at points throughout the bout, particularly in the 6th and 7th rounds. Ultimately, in a somewhat surprising result, Dogboe retained his NABF title by way of a razor thin Majority Decision victory.
Adam Lopez vs. Adan Ochoa, NC, 8 rounds, featherweight
Following up his fight of the year candidate with Issac Dogboe (who is also featured on this undercard), the ever entertaining Adam Lopez opened up the ESPN2 undercard in a bout against Adan Ochoa in a bout that pitted Californians against each other. Unfortunately, due to a head clash that caused a cut to Ochoa, the fight ended as a no contest, robbing viewers of almost certain action.
All three judges had Lopez up 20-18 at the time of the stoppage.
ESPN APP (no paywall), 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT
Karlos Balderas Def. Julio Cortez, TKO Round 4, junior lightweight
In the second bout of the evening, another US Olympian, Karlos Balderas delivered an exciting performance against Julio Cortez. After an exceptional display of offense throughout the first 3 rounds, Balderas picked up the pace considerably in the 4th. After a number of unanswered shots including a large right which sent Cortez into the ropes on unsteady legs, the referee waved off the contest.
For Balderas, it was his second straight KO win since signing with Top Rank.
Tiger Johnson Def. Antonius Grable, TKO Round 4
In his professional debut, American Olympian Delante “Tiger” Johnson (1-0), who lost in the Olympic quarterfinals to the eventual gold medalist, faced off against Antonius Grable (3-2-1) to open the Crawford-Porter ESPN+ undercard. Following a somewhat slow start, the blue chip prospect picked up the pace to make easy work of his opponent, on the way to a 4th round TKO.
Following the victory, Johnson addressed the cut he suffered as well his performance overall:
“I’m coming. The cut was not an issue for me, and I did my thing against a solid opponent in my professional debut. It was an honor to debut on a big pay-per-view card in Las Vegas, and I can’t wait for my second professional fight.”
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