RESULTS: LEIGH WOOD, CHRIS BILLAM-SMITH, LUIS ALBERTO LOPEZ, OSCAR COLLAZO ALL WIN WORLD TITLE FIGHTS
By: Jay Calderon
On Wednesday at the Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne, Australia, former Heavyweight titlist Joseph Parker needed less than a round to get rid of Faiga Opelu, dropping and ultimately stopping his foe in the opening frame. A powerful flurry of shots forced Opelu to the canvas, forcing the referee to step in and wave the bout off at 1:29.
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On Friday at the Caribe Royale Resort in Orlando, Florida, and live on DAZN, undefeated Jr. Welterweight prospect Ashton Sylve easily out-pointed Adam Kipenga, hardly losing a second of any round on his way to a unanimous decision victory. Scores were 80-72 three times all in favor of Sylve, who was forced to go the distance for the first time in his nine fight career, improving to 9-0 with 8 stoppages.
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On Saturday at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California, and live on DAZN, Welterweight contender Alexis Rocha made easy work of Anthony Young, stopping his foe in the fifth round of action. From start to finish, Rocha was in control, landing the more telling blows as he wore Young down. In the fifth, Rocha, 23-1 with 15KOs, a left hand dropped Young. While Young beat the count, the referee waved off the contest at the 2:15 mark of the frame.
In the co-featured bout of the evening, undefeated Oscar Collazo weathered a few troubling rounds against Melvin Jerusalem, before taking over and snatching up a portion of the Strawweight title. Jerusalem had early success to some degree, but Collazo began to piece together his work well. After the seventh frame, Jerusalem opted to remain in his corner and the fight was stopped. Collazo improved to 7-0 with 5KOs with the title-winning performance.
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On Saturday at the Manchester Arena in Manchester, England, and live on DAZN, Leigh Wood regained his gold, earning a lopsided decision over Mauricio Lara over twelve rounds. The fight wasn't nearly as dynamic as their initial encounter back in February, but that likely suited Wood just fine. Wood dropped Lara in the second frame and otherwise cruied to a decision with tallies of 118-109 twice and 116-111 all in his favor.
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On Saturday at the SSE Arena in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and live on ESPN, Featherweight titlist Luis Alberto Lopez stopped challenger Michael Conlan in the fifth round, retaining his gold in the process. Lopez was simply too much for Conlan on the night, landing powerful shots and dropping Conlan in the fifth with a right uppercut. Before a count was even registered by the referee, Conlan's corner had thrown in the towel. Time of the stoppage was 1:14 in the frame.
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On Saturday at Vitality Stadium in Bournemouth, England, and live on Sky Sports, Chris Billam-Smith handed Lawrence Okolie his first career loss, snatching his Cruiserweight title up in the process. It was a messy fight which saw a solid knockdown scored by CBS in the fourth, two point deductions against Okolie for holding and two questionable knockdowns granted to Smith in the latter rounds. In the end, Smith earned a majority decision, with tallies of 116-107 and 115-108 in his favor, and a third score landing at 112-112 even.
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