By Luis Sandoval

Staples Center, Los Angeles, California - Antonio Orozco (16-0) was able to stop the tough Danny Escobar (8-2) in the 6th round of a fun and exciting fight that had no stop action from beginning to end.

Orozco found out early he was not in an easy fight as Escobar gave as good as he got. The fight was fought almost entiat close quarters as both fighters worked feverishly on the inside taking turns landing shots to the body and head. The action was nonstop but it was Orozco who was landing the better combinations and his faster hands allowed him to beat Escobar to the punch.

After the 3rd round Escobar’s face started showing signs of damage as Orozco was landing his crisp combinations. Escobar continued to bring the fight to Orozco but continued to pay for it as he began getting punished on the inside. In round 6, Orozco’s constant attack began to take a real toll on Escobar who was hit with a monster left hook that hurt and froze him in the middle of the ring. Orozco immediately jumped on him and battered him until he finally crumbled to the ground and the referee called an end to the fight.

WBO light heavyweight champion Nathan Cleverly (25-0) retained his title and remained undefeated as he battered late replacement Shawn Hawk (22-3-1) and stopped him in the 8th round of their bout.

 

Cleverly started things off fast as he let his hands go early and pounded Hawk with hard combinations. Hawk showed a ton of heart as he continued to fight back in an uphill battle. In round 3, Hawk began exchanging with Cleverly and having success at times as he would land his own flush shots but still catching more in return.

 

The fight started to take a pattern as Cleverly would unload punches while Hawk covered up and waited to counter his single shots in between. In the 7th round Cleverly once again pinned Hawk to the ropes but this time he didn’t stop punching and eventually Hawk fell to a knee. He would get up but Cleverly would jump on him once again and pounded on him until Hawk was forced to take another knee to subdue the punishment.

 

Hawk would make it out the round but the 8th round didn’t fare any better for him as he was once again battered and dropped by a clubbing right hand for the 3rd time. The end came when Cleverly began viciously attacking Hawk’s body and a hard left hook made Hawk go down as the ref jumped in to stop the bout at 1:53 of the round.