By Mark Vester
At the Mohegan Sun Resort and Casino in CT, Devon Alexander (20-0, 13KOs) knocked out Juan Urango (22-3-1, 17KOs) in eight rounds to unify the WBC and IBF junior welterweight titles.
Alexander came out working a stuff jab. Urango stayed back and looked for openings. Alexander's jab was keeping Urango at bay. He continued to move and was able to land good punches off the jab. Urango landed a hard right hand at the end but Alexander took it well and continued to work the jab. At the start of the second, Urango came charging out with power punches. Alexander stayed on the outside, using the jab to the head and body. They traded some hard punches in the middle of the round. Alexander landed a hard uppercut when Urango came in. At the start of the third, Urango came out charing again. Alexander continued to land the jab and counter punches when Urango would miss. Urango would land another hard hook but not enough to do damage. Alexander was landing some hard counters to open up a cut above Urango's left eye. They traded some punches at the end of the third.
Urango picked up the pace in the fourth. He was going to the body, landing hooks to the head and continued to throw hard shots. Alexander stayed with the jab and landed combos off the exchange. In the fifth, Alexander landed some shots and couldn't really hurt Urango. Urango kept coming and throwing. In the sixth, Urango had his best round. He was able to land some hard combinations. Alexander stayed in and started trading punches. Urango was getting the better of the exchanges.
The seventh saw Urango continue his trend of landing some good punches to the chin of Alexander. They were trading punches throughout the round. Alexander used some good counters but none of them were able to push Urango back. During an exchange in the eight, Alexander landed a massive uppercut to send Urango down. As they traded punches, Alexander dropped Urango again. Urango was very hurt when he got up and the fight was stopped.
On the undercard;
Former cruiserweight champion Wayne "Big Truck" Braithwaite (24-4, 20 KOs) knocked out Adam Harris (10-3, 7 KOs) in the first round. In the closing moments of the round, a three punch combination sent Harris down for the full count of ten.
Cruiserweight prospect Ryan Coyne (14-0, 4 KOs) won an eight round unanimous decision over Paul Jennette (11-3, 8 KOs). The scores were 77-75, 77-75 and 78-74.
