By Ryan Burton
Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City - Undefeated middleweight Matt Korobov (21-0) kept his perfect record intact when he beat Derek Edwards (26-2) by technical knockout. Korobov started out strong dominating and almost stopping Derek Edwards in the first 2:30 minutes of the first round but was countered perfectly and barely survived the final seconds of the round even though he stayed on his feet. Korobov regained his senses in the 2nd and dropped Edwards towards the end of the round. Edwards took some more big shots in the third round but stayed on his feet. The fight slowed to crawl in the 4th as both fighters were hesitant to lead, in fear of getting countered. A straight left sent Edwards back to the canvas in the 7th but he was able to rise to his feet as the bell sounded to end the round. Edwards ate a bunch of punches again in the 8th but survived the round. He went down again early in the 9th and referee Steve Smoger wisely called a halt to the bout at the :28 mark.
In a battle of undefeated super featherweights, Toka Khan Clary (9-0) defeated Ramsey Luna (11-1) via unanimous decision. The final scores were 57-55 on all three cards. Clary passed a gut check test as he was knocked down twice. He was putting on a clinic the first three rounds before he took a big shot in the 4th that would have sent him flying into the crowd if the ropes weren't there. Even though he didn't go down, the ref correctly ruled it a knockdown. Seconds later he went down again but rose to his feet and finished the round on wobbly legs. He was able to regain his legs in the 5th and outboxed Luna the rest of the fight.
Blue chip super middleweight prospect Jesse Hart improved his record to 11-0 when he stopped Tyrell Hendrix (10-3) in the first round. Hart stunned Hendrix early and referee Steve Smoger stopped the fight when Hendrix failed to answer Hart's barrage. Hart's father is former middleweight contender Eugene "Cyclone" Hart.
Julian Rodriguez (2-0) won his second professional fight when he defeated Ryan Picou (0-2) via unanimous decision in their super lightweight bout. Rodriguez's advantage in hand speed was evident from the opening seconds of the fight. Rodriguez hurt Picou with a flurry of punches in the third round Picou gamely fought on but was badly overmatched. The final scores were 40-36 on all three cards.
2012 Olympic gold medallist Egor Mekhontsev had a successful pro debut when he defeated Peter Cajigas (0-3) via technical knockout. Mekhontsev dominated the fight from the opening bell. He dropped Cajigas three times in the third round, all by body shots. Referee Steve Smoger immediately stopped the fight after the third knockdown. The official time of the knockout was 2:35.