Women’s middleweight Nisa Rodriguez earned the first stoppage of her career with a technical knockout of Melody Popravak at 52 seconds of the second round on Tuesday night.
The bout served as the co-feature of BoxingInsider’s final card of 2024 at Sony Hall in New York City, New York, and was telecast live on DAZN.
Rodriguez, a 34-year-old from The Bronx, New York, started slowly, allowing Popravak to push her to the ropes in the opening round. However, Rodriguez landed a big right hand with 30 seconds left in the frame, nearly flooring Popravak, 39, of Snellville, Georgia, and finishing with a flurry that seemed to rock Popravak as the round ended.
Rodriguez carried her momentum into the second round, landing clean right hands and left hooks on Popravak, who struggled with head movement and absorbed the punches cleanly. Despite never hitting the canvas, Popravak was overwhelmed, fighting with will, toughness and little else, prompting the referee to stop the fight.
A member of the New York Police Department, Rodriguez had a lively contingent of colleagues cheering her on as she celebrated the first knockout of her career.
Popravak, originally from Brooklyn, New York, fell to 2-2-1 (1 KO), while Rodriguez improved to 3-0 (1 KO).
Middleweight Jacob Solis, of New York City, fought to a split draw against Daniel Jefferson, of Florissant, Missouri.
The judges scored the bout 40-36 for Jefferson, 39-37 for Solis and 38-38.
Solis, 33, struggled to find his rhythm against Jefferson, a southpaw who kept him off-balance throughout the fight. Jefferson appeared to slow down in the third round, allowing Solis to pick up the pace, but the 6ft fighter Solis couldn’t establish the proper distance. Solis repeatedly loaded up on overhand rights that missed, giving Jefferson a chance to rally late in the final round.
Solis is now 5-0-1 (5 KOs), going the distance for the first time in his career. Jefferson, 34, now stands at 5-3-1.
After the fight, promoter Larry Goldberg said the rematch will be made as a six-round fight on February 20. Jefferson took the fight on two weeks’ notice.
Donte Layne, from Long Island, New York, extended his knockout streak to six with a fourth-round TKO victory over Pachino Hill, of Davenport, Iowa.
Hill became the first opponent to take Layne past the opening round, providing some veteran experience before the stoppage at 1 minute and 2 seconds of the fourth.
Layne scored a knockdown in Round 3 with a body shot that caused a delayed reaction from Hill. In the fourth, a right hook to the temple dropped Hill again, and Layne followed with a flurry of punches, forcing Hill to take a knee before the referee waved it off.
Layne, 21, improved to 6-0 (6 KOs), while Hill, 28, fell to 8-8-2 (6 KOs).
Junior welterweight Terell Bostic, of Wyandanch, New York, outboxed Carlos Marrero, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, to win an eight-round unanimous decision.
The judges scored the bout 78-74, 80-72 and 80-72 in favor of the 33-year-old Bostic, who wore Kobe Bryant-inspired Lakers boxing trunks. Bostic’s versatility proved too much for Marrero, also 33, whose straightforward style focused on breaking his opponent’s will. However, both fighters’ limited punching power was a recurring theme of the fight.
Bostic relied on his fundamentals and fought effectively off the back foot while occasionally pressing forward to secure rounds. Both fighters displayed impressive conditioning for this level of competition.
After the fight, Bostic revealed that he injured his right hand during the bout.
Bostic improved to 14-2 (2 KOs), while Marrero fell to 8-9-3 (1 KO).
In the opening bout, lightweight Koby Khalil Williams, of Brooklyn, New York, improved to 4-0 (3 KOs) with a first-round stoppage of Deonta Williamson, of St. Louis, in a bout scheduled for four rounds. The fight was halted by the referee at 1 minute and 22 seconds of the opening round.
Williams, 26, dropped the 25-year-old Williamson with a left hand to the body from the southpaw stance just over a minute into the round. Moments later, Williams overwhelmed Williamson with a right hook and a left hook combination to the body, forcing him to his knees. The bout was called off by the referee upon Williamson going to the canvas.
Lucas Ketelle is a proud member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and author of “Inside The Ropes of Boxing” (available on Amazon). Contact him on X @LukieBoxing.
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