Joe Smith Jr. (23-1, 19 KO’s) of Long Island, New York scored a devastating knockout as he sent former world champion and future hall of famer Bernard Hopkins (55-8-2, 32 KO’s) of Philadelphia into retirement in what was Hopkins's farewell fight Saturday night at the Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California on HBO World Championship Boxing main event. Smith connected Hopkins with a huge right hand in round eight and followed up with a flurry sending Hopkins through the ropes as the 51 year old Hopkins was unable to continue.
South El Monte’s Joseph Diaz Jr. (22-0, 13 KO’s) scored a unanimous decision win in the co-main event over Horatio Garcia (30-2-1, 21 KO’s) of Guadalajara. All three judges scored the bout 100-90 as Diaz retains his NABF title.
In the opening HBO World Championship Boxing bout WBO cruiserweight champion Oleksandr Usyk (11-0, 9 KOs) went toe to toe with Thabiso Mchunu (17-3, 11 KOs). Usyk wore Mchunu down and ended the bout by technical knockout in the ninth round at the 1:53.
Other Bouts
Brazilian super middleweight Yamaguchi Falcao (12-0, 5 KOs) made quick work of German Perez (10-3-3, 3 KOs) of Tijuana, Mexico in a scheduled ten round bout. Falcao was pressing as Perez twisted his ankle, Falcao landed a punch and Perez could not continue as the referee waived it 27 seconds into the first round
Los Angeles based Irish sensation Jason "El Animal" Quigley (12-0, 10 KOs) scored a technical knockout over Jorge Melendez (28-8-1) at the 2:24 minute mark in the first of their 10-scheduled round middleweight bout.
Ryan "Kingry" Garcia (7-0, 6 KOs) scored a knockout over Durango, Mexico's Antonio Martinez (6-8, 5 KOs) cutting up his face. By the second round, the referee ended the fight at the two-minute mark.
Carlos "The Solution" Morales (15-1-3, 6 KOs) remains NABA Super Featherweight champion after defeating tough opponent Charles Huerta (18-5, 10 KOs) of Paramount, CA via split decision, with scores of 95-94, 96-93 and 93-96. The fight proved to be a difficult one as Morales endured cuts to the face in round 7, and was knocked down in round 8-however, he remained resilient with counterpunches and blocks to Huerta to ensure the victory.
Buena Park, California's Christian "Chimpa" Gonzalez (16-0, 14 KOs) went straight to work and hurt his opponent Jonathan Perez (36-16, 28 KOs) of Miami, FL with a right uppercut in the first round. By the second round, he had knocked out Perez in the third round at the 26 second mark with a dominant liver shot.
Los Angeles, Ivan "Striker" Delgado (11-0-1, 4 KOs) took down Tijuana, Mexico's Roberto Rivera (6-4, 5 KOs) with a devastating body shot in the sixth round of their lightweight bout at the 1:18 mark.
Glendora, CA's Joet Gonzalez (15-0, 7 KOs) remained undefeated after taking down Jairo Hernandez (15-11, 8 KOs) of Torreon, Mexico via fourth round knockout at the 2:40 second mark in this scheduled 6/8-round featherweight fight.
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