ORLANDO, Fla. – Puerto Rican featherweight Jan Paul Rivera remained unbeaten with an impressive sixth-round knockout of Daniel Bailey in the main event of “Most Valuable Prospects 14” at the Caribe Royale Resort on Friday night. The card was promoted by Most Valuable Promotions and streamed on DAZN.
Rivera, 13-0 (7 KOs), got off to a good start when, toward the end of an otherwise quiet first round, he clipped Bailey with a left hook and, after a brief delay, Bailey staggered backward and fell on his rear against the ropes. Rivera sought to finish the fight there and then, but Bailey’s head was clear and he was able to return fire.
Over the next several rounds, Rivera stalked patiently as Bailey circled the ring and looked to counter. Bailey, 15-3 (8 KOs), was actually doing a capable job of boxing off the ropes behind an approximation of a Philly shell defense, but while it may have been denting the effectiveness of Rivera’s offense it wasn't doing much to deter the Puerto Rican from coming forward.
Bit by bit, step by step, Rivera found steadily greater success as he discovered ways to pierce Bailey’s defense, and in the sixth round he broke through fully.
A straight right behind a stiff jab started the damage, followed by another clean, stiff jab that snapped back Bailey’s head. A left hook and overhand right landed cleanly on Bailey’s jaw and sent him staggering backward, and a sweeping right dropped him along the ropes.
Bailey just about managed to haul himself to his feet, but Rivera would not be denied, and as he opened up on Bailey in the corner, referee Luis Pabon stepped in to halt the contest at 2 minutes and 58 seconds of the round.
The goal of “Most Valuable Prospects” is, of course, to nurture and highlight some of boxing’s most promising young fighters, and in Corey Marksman, MVP may have a genuine future star.
Marksman, an undefeated lightweight, has the flash – as evidenced that his ring attire wasn't fur-lined trunks as much as trunk-lined fur – but he also has the substance. Blessed with tremendous speed, he also unleashes a dazzling array of punches, and he showed most of them as he stopped Luis Martinez in the seventh round to improve his record to 12-0-1 (9 KOs).
Roared on by a hometown crowd, Marksman broke down Martinez’s initially tight defense, landing at an ever-greater success rate until an explosive flurry at the start of the seventh prompted referee Christopher Young to intercede at 19 seconds of the round.
Martinez fell to 9-2 (4 KOs).
Maryland junior lightweight Jahmal Harvey made his pro debut a winning one, as he caused Marcelo Del Aguila, 5-2 (1 KO), to retire at the end of the opening round. It was a lively and sharp first three minutes in the paid ranks for the charismatic Harvey, but Del Aguila’s retirement felt abrupt and unexpected. Harvey, a 10-time national amateur champion, will face far tougher challenges in his professional career.
Junior middleweight Yoelvis Gomez won a minor belt with a majority decision win over Edwine Humaine over eight rounds. For much of the contest, Gomez, 9-1 (7 KOs), controlled pace and distance behind his southpaw jab, and in Round 4 he appeared to be steadily breaking down Humaine. But the Haitian-born Humaine found a sudden lease on life in the fifth and sixth, as Gomez’s jab disappeared and Humaine, 9-2 (7 KOs), was able to score with torquing power shots.
The pace of the fight picked up thereafter, without ever managing to become truly exciting, but Gomez recovered his poise down the stretch and secured victory by scores of 95-95, 96-94 and 97-93.
In preliminary card action:
In an entertaining and fast-paced junior welterweight tussle, Alex Rios, 10-2 (3 KOs), scored an upset as he hung the first “L” on Tayre Jones, 13-1 (7 KOs), by way of a unanimous eight-round decision. Scores were 78-74 across the board.
In a battle of heavyweights, Damazion Vanhouter, 9-0 (6 KOs) dropped and stopped Colby Madison, 11-9-3 (7 KOs), at 2 minutes and 48 seconds of the opening round.
Puerto Rican featherweight Carlos De Leon, 5-0 (4 KOs), remained unbeaten when referee Luis Pabon called a halt to his contest with Hamilton Blandon, 3-2-1 (1 KO), at 1 minute, 47 seconds of Round 2.
Bob Santos-trained junior middleweight prospect Sebastian Juarez, 9-0 (7 KOs), dropped Louis Hernandez, 11-4-1 (9 KOs), at the end of the third round and stopped him at 1 minute and 19 seconds of the following frame when referee Christopher Young intervened as Hernandez took punishment against the ropes.
In the opening bout of the night, welterweight Pedro Da Silva Conceicao, 5-0 (3 KOs), flattened Renny Viamonte, 4-3-1 (2 KOs), with a right hand to the jaw, dropping him face-first and stopping him in the second round of a scheduled six. Time was 1 minute and 59 seconds.
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcast about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He presently co-hosts the “Fighter Health Podcast” with Dr. Margaret Goodman. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, including most recently Arctic Passages: Ice, Exploration, and the Battle for Power at the Top of the World, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.
