Jhonny Gonzalez-Jackson Asiku Undercard Results

By Jake Donovan

Later this evening at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas, Jhonny Gonzalez (45-7, 39KO) and Jackson Asiku (26-4, 13KO) will collide in a 12-round featherweight bout that headlines an independent pay-per-view show presented by Roy Englebrecht Events.

Featherweight gatekeeper Miguel Roman overcame difficulties at the scales and in the early going of his televised co-feature to stop Tyrone Harris at 2:03 of the fifth round.

The bout was billed as featherweight elimination bout, but Roman was ineligible for the mandatory ranking after coming in heavy at Tuesday’s weigh-in. The Mexican appeared a bit fleshy for the fight, but proved to be in boxing shape and also boasting enough discipline to overcome adversity and close the fight strong.

Harris jumped out to an early lead, boxing throughout the first round and spending most of the fight jabbing from the outside and constantly circling around the ring. Roman tried to close the gap in the second, but was twice warned for rushing in with his head.

By the third round, Roman took the lead and remained in control for the rest of the night, although he flirted with disaster on a couple of occasions, including a wicked low blow midway through the third.

After once again being warned for a headbutt, Roman kept it professional and worked towards breaking down the leaner Harris. He hit paydirt in the fifth, scoring with a three punch combination to the body that led to a delayed reaction knockdown. Harris remained on a knee, making a half-hearted effort to get up as referee Jay Nady’s count reached ten.

The win is Roman’s third straight since his Fight of the Year-worthy decision loss to Antonio Escalante earlier this year. He improves to 31-7 (23KO) with the win, though remains a man without a country in terms of in which weight class he will campaign.

This bout called for a weight limit of 130 lb, but he made no effort to shrink down, giving up 20% of his purse to Harris, who falls to 24-7 (13KO) in losing the third of his last four bouts.

Hard-hitting middleweight prospect Marco Antonio Reyes looked impressive in stopping Victor Villereal in the second round of their scheduled eight round swing bout.

The bout was all Reyes (17-1, 15KO) who set up his shots perfectly and quickly wore down the usually durable Villereal (9-6-2, 2KO). Reyes scored two knockdowns in the second, both coming in the final minute of the round.

The first came courtesy of a right hand that deposited Villereal to the deck for the mandatory eight count. Reyes remained composed, waiting for the right opening, which came in the form of an exposed rib cage, where the Mexican banger landed a perfectly placed body shot.

Villereal once again beat the count, but hadn’t thrown a punch in nearly a minute. A follow up flurry along the ropes by Reyes was enough to convince referee Russell Mora to stop the bout.

The official time was 2:53 of the second round.

Reyes began the year with his first official loss, but has bounced back nicely with four straight knockouts, including an impressive 11th round body shot stoppage over divisional trialhorse Jose Luis Vertuche.

An upset occurred in the televised opener, as Yohan Banks (4-4-3, 2KO) rallied from way down to stop Quadtrine Hill (1-1, 1KO) with a one-punch knockout at 2:24 of the fourth and final round of their heavyweight bout.

Hill, an NFL-running-back-turned-aspiring boxer, was winning every round of the fight and even had Banks – currently doubling as an MMA fighter – badly hurt midway through the final round. But his inexperience proved to be his undoing, as he left himself wide open for a counter right uppercut from Banks to put him down and out.

Referee Jay Nady gave Hill every chance to continue, but was eventually forced to wave off the bout after the ex-NFLer showed no signs of getting off the canvas in time or being in any shape to fight on.

An equally surprising result came in the very next bout, with career .500 fighter Khadaphi Proctor (6-5-1, 0KO) outworking fringe lightweight prospect Rynell Griffin (6-3-1, 2KO) en route to a majority decision win in their four-round preliminary bout.

Scores were 40-36 (twice) Proctor and 38-38.