By Jake Donovan
Jesse Hart remained unbeaten after battering Aaron Pryor Jr. en route to a 9th round knockout Friday evening at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The matchup of second-generation boxers served as the televised opener on
truTV
as part of Top Rank's
Metro PCS Friday Night Knockout
boxing series.
Hart was in full control of the bout from the opening bell, offering hints of a knockout early on but chose to put his boxing skills to use in extending the fight. Pryor Jr.—a far cry from his Hall of Fame father of the same name—took punishment round after round, to the point of barely throwing hands even when the incoming wasn't as severe.
As the fight wore on, Pryor Jr's corner vowed to stop the fight if he didn't show more. It turned out to be an empty threat, one even challenged by Top Rank's on-air personality Crystina Poncher, who rightfully challenged the corner why they were allowing the Cincinnati journeyman to continue.
Hart eventually made everyone's job easier, picking up the pace in round nine as he eventually closed the show. A series of power shots had Pryor Jr's head bouncing around, perhaps taking at least two or three more clean shots than necessary before veteran referee Tony Weeks finally intervened.
The official time was 2:51 of round nine.
Jake Donovan is the managing editor of BoxingScene.com.
Twitter: @JakeNDaBox
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