Junior welterweight Mykquan Williams continued his impressive 2024 campaign with an eighth-round knockout of Lavisas Williams on Wednesday in the co-feature at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Mykquan Williams, 26, of East Hartford, Connecticut, knocked out Lavisas Williams, 33, of Rochester, New York, with a short right hand at 1:32 of the final round. Referee Harvey Dock stopped the fight as soon as Lavisas hit the canvas.
After a cautious opening round, Mykquan, 22-0-1 (11 KOs), found his rhythm, doubling up on his right hand and landing a shot to Lavisas’ temple, sending him crashing to the canvas. Lavisas, 11-2-1 (3 KOs), a southpaw, managed to get up on unsteady legs but was floored again moments later by another right hand from Mykquan just before the round ended.
Mykquan, confident in his right hand, continued to mix in quick left hooks with precision in the second round. Despite showing some redness and bruising near his right eye by the third round, he landed a punishing body shot that forced Lavisas to hold.
The fourth round saw Lavisas being examined by the ringside doctor before being cleared to continue. Mykquan pressed the action, while Lavisas, unwilling to back down, stood his ground and traded punches in the fifth. A clash of heads occurred, but neither fighter was cut.
In the sixth, Mykquan’s pressure was relentless, and he rocked Lavisas with a right hand toward the end of the round that bloodied his nose. Lavisas, despite the damage, refused to quit. Mykquan switched to a southpaw stance for part of the seventh round as Lavisas’ nose continued to bleed.
The doctor checked on Lavisas again at the start of the eighth, but Mykquan sealed the victory with a short right hand that floored Lavisas as he tried to escape along the ropes.
Mykquan Williams is now ranked No. 10 by the WBA and No. 13 by the WBO among junior welterweights.
Previously, light heavyweight Konrad Kaczmarkiewicz won a split decision over Khainell Wheeler in a six-round bout that raised more questions than answers.
The scores were announced 59-55 (Kaczmarkiewicz), 58-56 (Wheeler) and 59-55 (Kaczmarkiewicz).
Kaczmarkiewicz, 8-1-1 (3 KOs), started fast, throwing in high volume in the first round, while Wheeler, 7-6 (6 KOs), remained patient, waiting for opportunities to counter. Kaczmarkiewicz, 25, from Szczecin, Poland, landed a solid right hand to the head of Wheeler, followed by hooks to the body with about a minute left in the round. In the second, Wheeler, 31, from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, found success with short hooks to the body as Kaczmarkiewicz’s pace slowed. Kaczmarkiewicz hurt Wheeler with a big right hand in the second, exploiting Wheeler’s low lead hand.
Wheeler began pressing forward in the third as Kaczmarkiewicz’s punch output dropped. Wheeler stalked and looked for a fight-altering right hand. By the fourth round, Kaczmarkiewicz’s movement became excessive, allowing Wheeler to go on the offensive while both threw little – though Kaczmarkiewicz was the busier of the two. Wheeler maintained pressure in the fifth, but while Kaczmarkiewicz threw a few punches, he mostly focused on movement. Wheeler’s volume increased slightly toward the end, though Kaczmarkiewicz appeared in control, with the bout resembling a sparring session.
The final round followed the same pattern, with Wheeler continuing to pressure as Kaczmarkiewicz circled the ring. Wheeler landed a right uppercut in the final round, leaving Kaczmarkiewicz with a bloody nose that was quickly cleaned up by his corner.
There are now questions about whether Kaczmarkiewicz, at 5ft 10ins, is suited for the light heavyweight division, as his size and power might be insufficient for him to contend at the top level.
Also, junior lightweight Edward Vasquez picked up a fourth-round technical knockout over Kenneth Taylor in a battle between Texans on Wednesday at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York City.
Vasquez won when Taylor didn’t answer the bell for the fifth round, making the stoppage official at 3:00 of the fourth.
Vasquez, 17-2 (4 KOs), could easily be a titleholder, having lost a close fight by majority decision to former junior lightweight titleholder Joe Cordina. The 29-year-old Vasquez, from Fort Worth, Texas, entered Wednesday’s bout with a chip on his shoulder and landed a well-timed overhand right in the first round, forcing the 33-year-old Taylor, 14-4-2 (6 KOs), of Tyler, Texas, to retreat. Vasquez continued to press forward, setting a grueling pace that Taylor struggled to match. Although Taylor had some success in the third, briefly dictating the action, Vasquez’s relentless work rate wore him down.
By the fourth, Taylor was throwing single, ineffective shots while Vasquez continued applying pressure and landing clean punches in volume. The fight was abruptly stopped before the fifth round, leaving Vasquez visibly annoyed that Taylor chose not to continue.
In the opening bout, heavyweight Jerry Forrest won a unanimous decision over Earl Newman and celebrated with a backflip after being announced the victor.
The judges scored the fight 78-74, 79-73 and 78-74, all in favor of Forrest.
Although he took home the win, Forrest, 28-6-2 (20 KOs), was outboxed in the first two rounds as Newman, 10-3-1 (7 KOs), used a sharp jab and a solid right hand to keep the shorter Forrest at a distance, while also landing a well-placed right to the body.
Forrest, 36, of Newport News, Virginia, turned the fight around in the third, landing a left hook that caught the attention of Newman, a 33-year-old Brooklyn native. Forrest held his momentum in the fourth, pinning Newman on the ropes and landing a flurry, highlighted by his trademark left hook, despite getting clipped by a Newman right-hand counter.
The fifth round was closely contested, as Forrest countered well with his left hand and ended the round with a jab. Fatigue set in during the sixth as the fight’s fast pace slowed. A counter right hand from Newman was the standout punch in an otherwise quiet round.
The final two rounds reflected the second half of the fight, with Forrest being busier and Newman landing the cleaner shots. Newman, sporting a knee brace on his right leg, continued pressing forward throughout.
Forrest notched his first victory of 2024 and has now won two straight.
Newman, fighting as a heavyweight for the first time after stints at light heavyweight and cruiserweight, was returning to the ring after four years, though he had been active in Team Combat League.
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