In a night of boxing hosted by ProBox Promotions, WBA World Super-Featherweight champion Lamont Roach (25-1-1) returned to his home-ground of Washington D.C. to successfully beat up on ‘Fearless’ Feargal McCrory (16-1) in his maiden defence of the title.
The challenger showed grit, heart and determination in his first shot at a title, refusing to give up and even taking some of the rounds along the way, before the stoppage came in the eighth.
The event, hosted at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, was a homecoming for Roach, but not an easy one. McCrory, spurred on by bursts of support from the away crowd, refused to relent in pressure – arguably to his detriment. Roach found swaths of success with the hook in particular, a punch that would stun the Irishman time and time again.
Roach, beginning from the third, would begin to find success in knocking down the unrelenting challenger, amassing one in the third and two in the fourth. The referee would step in during the eighth round, despite McCrory starting to muster some innate strength.
With the win, Roach is set firmly on unification bouts, with his clear preference lying in WBC champion O’Shaquie Foster (22-2).
Guatemalan warrior Lester Martinez (18-0) proved himself worthy of the big-time with a unanimous decision over Olympic medallist Carlos Gongora (22-3). At only 28-years-of-age, Martinez has plenty of time to give anyone in the super-middleweight division trouble, especially with such a dominant display.
For his part, though, Gongora refused to go down, despite the blistering power of Martinez’s right hand. One can only hope that this is not the end of Gongora, who has only lost to those operating at the higher end of the division.
Manchester native Alex Dilmaghani (20-3-1) would lose in a massive upset to Rene Tellez Giron (20-3) of Mexico by retirement, as Giron, who operates with a traditional Mexican style, proved to overwhelm the Mancunian.
Despite having spent extensive time in Mexico, Dilmaghani seemed unable to cope and would capitulate moving into the seventh round of their ten round competition. With the current size of ProBox TV, Giron is sure to have made a statement and will likely reappear in more showings at the promotion.
As many expected, the outstanding amateur pedigree of Rianna Rios (8-0) would shine through in her showcase against Spanish former title-challenger Mary Romero (10-6), completely outhustling the Spaniard to claim a unanimous victory over their eight rounder.
Slowly inching into the top ten at bantamweight, Rios has the ability to mix it with the best, names such as Terumi Nuki (15-5) and Amanda Galle (10-0-1) easily lie in her future.
So, ProBox Promotions provided a fantastic night of action from the heart of Washington D.C. with a variety of electric performances to show.
Read the full article here
