Stanley Wright took a significant risk accepting a fight against a fellow unbeaten heavyweight on eight days’ notice, and he cashed in.
Wright, “The Black Shogun,” from Charlotte, North Carolina, outworked the favored Jeremiah Milton on Friday, scoring a unanimous decision in a 10-round fight at ProBox TV Events Center in Plant City, Florida.
The scores were 97-92 on two cards and 96-93, all in favor of Wright, who improved to 14-0 (11 KOs). Milton, 30, of Tulsa, Oklahoma dropped to 11-1 (7 KOs) with the loss.
Wright, who was 36lbs heavier than his opponent, at 280.5lbs, made the first statement of the fight in the opening round, rocking Milton with an overhand right. That moment was a harbinger of things to come as Wright caught Milton going straight back and planted him on the seat of his pants with a right hand. The knockdown convinced Milton to be more judicious in his approach in the following rounds, as he attacked less and looked for counterpunch opportunities.
Milton began to show signs of fatigue in the middle rounds, which was understandable considering that he accepted the fight last Thursday, after the previous opponent, Kashaun Davis, withdrew because of an injury.
Milton found counter opportunities with his uppercut once Wright slowed down and began to lean forward on the inside. Knowing he had only so much energy to work, Wright made the adjustment of leaning on the smaller man, employing a punch-and-grab strategy reminiscent of former WBA heavyweight titleholder John Ruiz in the 2000s. Milton didn’t do enough to take advantage of his opponent’s fatigue, allowing Wright to smother his attack too often.
The fight was the first for Milton since August 2023, while Wright hadn’t fought since April 2024.
The fight was also the first for Wright that was scheduled for longer than six rounds.
In the card’s previous bout, 2020 Haitian Olympian Darrelle Valsaint, 12-0 (10 KOs), made short work of Stephen Danyo, 23-7-3 (8 KOs), knocking him out at 2:17 in the second round of a 10-round scheduled junior middleweight fight. The 22-year-old southpaw Valsaint, of Orlando, Florida, used body punches to open Danyo up to his finishing punches, which came in the form of a short right hand followed by a left uppercut.
Ariel Perez, 6-0 (4 KOs), of Seffner, Florida, kept his unbeaten record intact, breaking down Pachino Hill, 8-9-2 (6 KOs), with pressure to win a six-round unanimous decision in their light heavyweight fight. The loss sends Hill, a resident of Davenport, Iowa, to his eighth loss in nine fights after he started his career at 7-1-1.
In a six-round junior bantamweight fight, former national amateur champion Jordan Roach moved his undefeated record to 3-0 (1 KO) to start his career, defeating the erstwhile-unbeaten Luis Quiles Rivera by a unanimous decision. All three judges scored the fight 60-54 in favor of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, native Roach, who is also the younger brother of WBA junior lightweight titleholder Lamont Roach Jnr.
Rivera, 25, of Cayey, Puerto Rico, dropped to 2-1-1 (1 KO) as a pro.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
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