Joseph Hicks, Joshua Pagan score wins on Shields-Perkins undercard

Junior middleweight Joseph Hicks scored an emphatic seventh-round technical knockout in his bout with Keon Papillion from Lafayette, Louisiana. The time of the stoppage was 1:35.

The bout occurred on the undercard of Claressa Shields-Danielle Perkins taking place at the Dort Financial Center in Flint, Michigan and streamed on DAZN.

Hicks, 31, of Grand Rapids, Michigan had a 10-inch reach advantage over Papillion, but still found himself getting countered early on. Known for starting slow, Hicks, the 2020 Olympic Trials silver medalist, began to target Papillion’s body in the second round. After a right hand landed from Hicks, Papillion, 27, looked to exchange his own right hand, but instead the two clashed heads. Papillion was worse for wear as he had swelling over his left eye from the head clash.

Hicks’ reach was a difficult problem for Papillion, who uses his speed and sharp reflexes to counter opponents and mount his offense. The distance to close was causing Papillion issues. In round four, Papillion began to land some effective counters. Papillion had his best round of the fight, but the two clashed heads before the round ended.

At the end of the fifth round, Papillion had bruising on both eyes. Hicks caught Papillion with a clubbing right hand that forced him to hold at the end the sixth round. This was the most telling blow of the fight. An excited Hicks landed a right hand after the bell as he apologized to Papillion after the shot landed.

Sensing a knockout, Hicks pounced on Papillion, who showed a lot of heart, but was outgunned and hurt. Hicks landed one clubbing right hand after another as Papillion was unwilling to go down. Papillion’s father, former pro fighter Jason Papillion, stepped on to the apron to get the attention of referee Ansel Stewart, bringing a halt to the fight.

Hicks record is now 12-0 (8 KOs). Papillion falls to 10-1-1 (7 KOs).

In a stern test for the young career of junior welterweight Joshua James Pagan of Grand Rapid, Michigan, a hard-fought eight-round unanimous decision victory over Ronal Ron of Caracas, Venezuela. The scores were 79-73 and 78-74 on the other two.

Pagan was eager to exchange despite using his pedigree and boxing ability which created an exciting first round. In round two, a cut appeared above Pagan’s left eye. His corner managed the cut well, but Ron continued to land hard overhand right hands. By the fourth round, Pagan had adjusted and was using his footwork to outbox and outmaneuver Ron. Pagan found himself on the ropes with Ramirez landing big shots. Ron looked to be slowing down. Ron found a second-wind as a right hand reopened the cut over Pagan’s eye.

Pagan, 25, gained some valuable experience against a durable 27-year-old veteran Ron Ramirez.

Pagan improves to 12-0 (4 KOs), and Ron now holds a record of 16-8 (13 KOs).

Women’s featherweight Caroline Veyre of Paris, France, won an eight-round unanimous decision over Carmen Vargas. The scores were 80-72 and all three scorecards in favor of Veyre, who now trains in Canada.

Veyre, a 2020 Canadian Olympian, put on a clinic as she utilized good footwork and punches that maintained her distance to nullify Vargas. A right hand followed by a jab from Veyre caused a cut over the right eye of Vargas in the second round. Vargas proved her toughness as she showed she could take a punch as clean shots from Veyre continued to land. Veyre, 36, delivered a well-orchestrated attack, causing blood to trickle from the nose of Vargas at the end of the third round.

In the later rounds, Vargas, 31, pressed forward, even with her eye nearly shut, as Veyre continued to outbox and place her punches well. In the sixth, it appeared Vargas’ eye was nearly closed which caused the doctor to be called. The fight was allowed to continue. Veyre landed 50 percent of her power punches. 

Veyre’s best performance as a professional improved her to 9-1, and Vargas drops to 5-3-1.

In the opening bout, women’s junior bantamweight Ashleyann Lozada from Corozal, Puerto Rico won a four-round unanimous decision over Denise Moran of San Diego, California. The scores were 40-36 on all three of the scorecards. 

Lozada, 33, used her five-inch height and reach advantage over Moran, 36, nullifying her hand speed. Lozada stunned Moran with a left uppercut followed by a right hook in the third round.

Loazada, who was the first female representative of Puerto Rico to compete in boxing at the Olympics in 2024, starts her career as 1-0. Moran loses her first professional fight and drops to 3-1.

Lucas Ketelle took an unconventional path to boxing, eventually finding his stride in gyms and media. For the past decade, he has hosted the “Lukie Boxing” podcast, filmed training camps for fighters like Arnold Barboza Jnr, Mikey Garcia and Caleb Plant, and worked with top professionals such as Mike Bazzel. Ketelle is also an author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for ProBox TV, BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @LukieBoxing.