Liacouras Center, Philadelphia - For the vacant NABF super middleweight title, top rated Jesse Hart (24-1, 19 KOs), who is the WBO's number one ranked boxer, stopped Demond Nicholson (18-3-1, 17 KOs) in the seventh round.
Hart rocked Nicholson in the first round and was trying to finish him off early. Nicholson had recently moved up to the super middleweight limit and he was a lot smaller than Hart,
But right at the first bell, Nicholson clipped Hart with a big right hand shot that made him fly back to the ropes.
Hart was no longer being reckless at the start of the second round. He was showing more respect for Nicholson and slowed down the pace by boxing.
During the third round, the referee made a terrible call when he made a knockdown call when Nichoslson was pushed down. That lit a fire under Nicholson, who began to take the fight to Hart on the inside. Hart was going to the head and Nicholson was going to the body. During the action, Hart was credited with a second knockdown when Nicholson went down with a delayed reaction after getting caught flush.
Hart controlled the action as fight continued, but Hart appeared to tire at the start of the seventh round - but then exploded with both hands when Nicholson got in trouble. Nicholson went down, from what looked like a minor push. The referee counted him out and it didn't appear like Nicholson wanted to continue - and the referee waved it off.
In a battle of hometown heavyweight rivals, Bryant Jennings (23-2, 13 KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over Joey Dawejko (19-5-4, 11 KOs). All three judges had it 98-92.
The fight was tight and close in the first two rounds. Both guys were having their moments with solid punches while fighting on the inside.
Jennings was really putting his punches together well and letting the hands fly more often in the third. They were trading solid shots in the fourth round. Jennings was getting off better as they continued to exchange in the fifth.
They continued to go toe to toe at the start of the sixth, with Jennings stunning Dawejko and pumping a good jab in the smaller boxer's face.
Jennings continued to land solid punches in the seventh round, as Dawejko was slowing down and appeared to be tiring.
Dawejko was getting outworked and outboxed in the eight and ninth. Jenning was working his jab and not allowing Dawejko to land anything of note.
In the tenth and final round, Dawejko started going for broke. Jennings was allowing him to get off at first, but then started firing back with a lot of punches from both hands.
