Local talents Brad Strand and Lucas Biswana impressed the onlooking Liverpool crowd at the M&S Bank Arena on the undercard of Nick Ball’s title defense against Ronny Rios. The pair, along with heavyweight Boma Brown, capped off a successful start to the night for the Everton Red Triangle gym, success that they hope is followed by wins for both Ball and Andrew Cain.
Super bantamweight Strand (12-0, 4 KOs) got back to winning ways with a spectacular sixth-round knockout over Marvin Solano (24-20, 8 KOs). Strand, coming off a defeat to Dennis McCann for the British title, outfought his opponent for the majority of the contest but was unable to put a dent in the tough Solano.
That all changed at the end of round six when he landed a perfect right hand, putting Solano down and out. The time of the stoppage was 2 minutes 47 seconds of round six.
Super featherweight Nelson Birchall (6-0, 3 KOs) impressed again with a third-round stoppage of Mark Butler (3-13, 1 KO). Birchall, who is trained in Liverpool by Joe McNally, piled on the pressure in round three, hurting Butler to the head and body and leaving his man on shaky legs. Referee Steve Gray had seen enough and waved off the action at 1.22 of round three.
The heavyweight Boma Brown (5-0, 3 KOs) scored an impressive sixth-round finish over the tough Amine Boucetta (8-17, 0 KOs). Brown struggled to tie down the awkward customer but finally broke through with a vicious right uppercut that put Boucetta down for the full 10-count. The time of the stoppage was 0.36 of round six.
Lightweight prospect James McGivern (10-0, 3 KOs) impressed on his Queensberry debut by outscoring the game Reuquen Cona Facundo Arce (17-17, 7 KOs) over eight rounds. McGivern was able to use his southpaw jab and movement to frustrate Arce, picking up an 80-72 points victory.
Super lightweight Biswana (1-0, 0 KOs) made a winning start to life in the professional ranks with a unanimous decision victory over Jakub Laskowski (4-32, 2 KOs) on his debut.
Biswana, the 2024 ABA welterweight champion, made a fast start to the contest, and it looked like only a matter of time before Laskowski would fold under the pressure. The tough Pol, however, managed to survive the round and took Biswana the full scheduled four rounds. Referee Mark Lyson scored the contest 40-36 to the debutant.
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