By Keith Idec
HOUSTON – Deontay Wilder’s younger brother successfully continued his comeback Saturday.
Marsellos Wilder beat Tyler Vogel by unanimous decision in a four-round cruiserweight fight on the Jermall Charlo-Brandon Adams undercard at NRG Arena. Wilder won for the second time since suffering a surprising fourth-round, technical-knockout defeat to journeyman William Deets on January 26 in Brooklyn.
The 30-year-old Wilder (4-1, 2 KOs, 1 NC), of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, won by the score of 40-36 on all three scorecards. The 26-year-old Vogel (3-3, 2 KOs), of Bozeman, Montana, has been knocked out twice, but he was able to withstand Wilder’s power and finished the fight on his feet.
Wilder wobbled Vogel with a right hand in the third round. Vogel moved around and avoided getting hurt again before the bell sounded to end that round, though.
Vogel didn’t land any shots that seemed to affect Wilder.
Wilder bounced back from his loss to Deets (8-13, 3 KOs) on March 16. The former Jackson State wide receiver stopped Mark Sanchez in the first round of that fight at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The result of the Wilder-Sanchez fight was changed to a no-contest in April by the Texas Combative Sports Program because Wilder failed an unspecified test it administered.
Following Wilder’s win, Mark Bueke (3-2, 1 KO) upset Mychael Teal (3-1, 2 KOs) by majority decision in a four-round super middleweight match. Bueke won their relatively uneventful fight on two of three scorecards.
Also Saturday, welterweights Ryan Karl and Oscar Juarez scored first-round knockouts.
Karl (17-2, 11 KOs), of Milano, Texas, knocked out David Morales (13-12, 13 KOs), of Managua, Nicaragua, in the opening round. Juarez (4-0, 2 KOs), of Brownsville, Texas, stopped Philadelphia’s Wise (3-7, 1 KO) in the first round, too.
Super middleweight Zamy Larry also scored a first-round knockout Saturday in his pro debut. Larry, of Clearwater, Florida, needed just 38 seconds to beat Ranieri Souza (0-3), of Woburn, Massachusetts.
Earlier Saturday, super welterweight prospect Leon Lawson III easily out-boxed Evan Torres to win an eight-round unanimous decision. Lawson won all eight rounds on each of the three judges’ scorecards and won by the same score, 80-72, on each card.
The 19-year-old Lawson, of Flint, Michigan, remained unbeaten (11-0) and won by decision in a fifth straight fight. The 23-year-old Torres (7-8, 5 KOs), of El Paso, Texas, has been stopped inside the distance just once in four-plus years as a pro, but he is 1-6 in his past seven fights.
Torres spent much of the fight trying to bull his way inside to get past the taller, longer Lawson’s jab, yet he had little success and often smothered himself. He caught Lawson with a solid right hand just before the fifth round ended, but Lawson took it well.
Lawson let his hands go early in the seventh round and backed up Torres. He used his jab effectively and drilled Torres with a right hand.
Lawson landed several power punches in the eighth round as well, though Torres never appeared hurt.
Following Lawson’s win, Nelson Hampton defeated Dakota Linger in a sloppy but action-packed six-round lightweight bout.
Linger gave Hampton everything he could handle, but Hampton won a majority decision (59-55, 59-55, 57-57). Hampton (6-2, 4 KOs), of Edinburg, Texas, battled through a bloody nose and had to fend off a relentless Linger in the second half of their bout.
Linger (11-2-2, 7 KOs), of Buckhannon, West Virginia, has lost two of his past three fights.
Hampton stung Linger with right hands, a left uppercut and a left hook during the second round, but Linger never stopped moving forward. A determined Linger was more competitive during the third and fourth rounds, and bloodied Hampton’s nose.
Linger kept pressing the action in the fifth and sixth rounds and landed his fair share of punches. Two of the judges favored Hampton’s accuracy, however, and scored five of the six rounds for him.
In the opening bout Saturday, super featherweight Cesar Cantu knocked down Chante Bowens three times before their four-round fight was stopped just one minute and 12 seconds into it.
Cantu, of Weslaco, Texas, improved to 2-0 and recorded his first knockout as a pro. Bowens (0-3), of Wilson, North Carolina, has lost each of his professional bouts by knockout.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
