NEW YORK — It isn’t easy to adjust to fighting a southpaw on one week’s notice, but Kurt Scoby made it work Friday night at Sony Hall in New York City.

The 30-year-old powerhouse from Duarte, California put away pesky southpaw Alex Martin in eight rounds, stopping him with a furious combination at the 1:32 of the final round. The stoppage was just the second time Martin, now 19-9 (6 KOs), had been stopped in his 12-year career.

Martin, 36, of Chicago, started the fight busy working behind his quick right jab while Scoby took some time to study his opponent. It didn’t take long until Scoby had found something that worked, as he landed a straight right and an uppercut along the ropes. Scoby began to take complete control in the third round, as he cut off the ring by landing hooks that took away Martin’s escape routes. Martin was beginning to show signs of fading in the fourth as he fell twice to the canvas, though neither trip was ruled a knockdown. Scoby rocked Martin near the end of the bell with a strong right that was timed perfectly with Martin’s jab.

Scoby began to put a beating on Martin by the sixth round as his body work and right hands started to slow Martin’s work rate. He was already in survival mode by the seventh when, after a few rounds of nearly constant holding, Martin was deducted a point. The victory was already in the bag for Scoby by this point, but he continued to press his advantage. Midway through the round, a sustained combination rocked Martin back, with a right hand being the deciding punch that led to the fight being stopped.

"Just going to his body, just making him uncomfortable in there and making him fight my fight,” said Scoby of what brought him the victory.

Scoby has thrived under new trainer Hector Bermudez in Springfield, Massachusetts. Co-manager Brandon Stump tells BoxingScene that he believes Scoby is ready for a big opportunity.

The fight headlined a five-fight card promoted by Boxing Insider Promotions.

Andres Martinez walked into enemy territory and scored a minor upset, defeating popular local fighter Nadim Salloum by split decision in the six-round super middleweight fight.

Two judges scored the fight for Martinez, 6-4 (3 KOs), by the scores of 57-56 and 59-54, while the third hard it for Salloum, who dropped to 13-3 (7 KOs), by the score of 57-56.

Salloum, the first pro boxer from Lebanon, was given an early scare in the first round as a long right hand from the unorthodox Martinez put him down in the opening round. Salloum nodded to his corner to let him know he was OK, but Martinez wasn’t buying it. Martinez jumped on Salloum at the bell to begin the next round, and while some concerning right hands and body shots were able to get through, Salloum began to move his hands back, particularly with his uppercuts as the wild Martinez barreled forward with no regard for defense.

With Martinez winded from his early barrage, Salloum began to walk Martinez down in the third, pressuring behind his jab while landing at will with straight punches. A reliable weapon for Salloum became the left hook, which he threw shorter while Martinez winged his with his right hand low.

While Salloum had the more accurate punches, he also found himself being outworked for long stretches as Martinez winged punches from all angles before grabbing Salloum to limit the return fire.

After a relatively inactive fifth, Salloum’s trainer Jose Luis Guzman implored his fighter to stay busy in the sixth and final round, with the outcome far from secure either way. The sixth was another close round where Salloum was more accurate but Martinez the busier fighter, and neither seemed overly confident as they awaited the scorecards.

Martinez, 31, had extra motivation heading into the fight, wanting to win the fight for his father, who died three weeks earlier.

“I feel great for this win,” said Martinez through his interpreter and trainer Henry Ramirez, who is best known for guiding former heavyweight contender Cris Arreola.

“I took a few days to think about it but I decided to fight in my Dad’s honor.”

The win snaps a two-fight losing streak for Martinez.

Salloum, also 31, has now lost two of his last three, having been outpointed over eight rounds by William Townsel last March in Detroit.

It was a successful homecoming for Armando Barbier, the 30-year-old welterweight from Harlem, New York. Barbier defeated Ricardo Jimenez of Yonkers by split decision, with two judges scoring it 40-35 and 39-36 for Barbier, while the third judge surprisingly had it 38-37 for Jimenez, lifting Barbier’s record to 3-0 (1 KO). Jimenez dropped to 0-3-1 with the loss.

Barbier received loud support consisting largely of people from his home gym, Harlem’s Mendez Boxing. After a nondescript first round where neither was able to land anything meaningful, Barbier got busier in the second, dialing in straight rights against his southpaw opponent, whose own offense was limited to  wide slaps. Barbier began to land routinely with his straight right hand, but didn’t bring back many left hooks after to capitalize on his skill advantage. The third round was a wasted opportunity for Barbier, as he allowed Jimenez to smother him and survive. Sensing that his opponent couldn’t hurt him, Barbier came out more aggressively in the fourth. Jimenez was ruled down in the fourth round as Barbier threw a right hand, which may or not have landed cleanly, prior to Jimenez’s feet coming out from under him in the red corner. Jimenez protested the call but was clearly ill-equipped to handle Barbier’s sheer activity. Barbier found more success later in the round, switching southpaw to land a left cross and a right hook that hurt Jimenez.

The fight was the hometown debut for the 30-year-old Barbier, who hails from Harlem, as his two previous fights were held in Ecuador on the undercard of fights headlined and promoted by his gym mate Arnold Gonzalez.

In an entertaining heavyweight scrap between New York big men, George Arias outworked Earl Newman to win an eight round unanimous decision. The scores were 78-74 twice and 79-73 on the third. The win was the first for the 33-year-old native of the Dominican Republic since 2022, with his two most recent bouts being a third round stoppage loss against Jared Anderson and a draw against Skylar Lacy.

The shorter, lighter Arias, 19-1-1 (7 KOs), was the busier fighter of the two, with both taking turns to land shots on the inside. The 6-foot-3 Newman, 10-5-1 (7 KOs), didn’t mind lingering on the inside, landing his uppercuts in close against the 5-foot-11 Newman, but the pace began to tell on Newman, a former light heavyweight who shot up to 250-plus after returning from a nearly five year layoff in 2024. Newman began to sit on the ropes and offer single punches in return while Arias put together punches. Newman was more competitive in the fourth, likely winning the round, as Arias seemed gassed from his activity in the previous round.

The fight fell fell into a pattern in the second half as Arias was more active, while Newman could only answer back in spots. Arias’ nonstop pressure began to tell in the final round as a flurry had Newman ready to go in the final moments before the bell rang.

“It was a very, very tough fight,” admitted Arias. “It came down to the endurance, the running. The time I was away from the ring, I felt a little rusty so I stuck to the fundamentals of what I can do, which is to put pressure and throw punches.”

In the opening fight of the night, blue chips super middleweight prospect Donte Layne boosted his record to 8-0 (7 KOs) with a second round knockout of Mirady Lubanzadio Zola, 5-4-1 (2 KOs). Layne, a seven-time national champion from Elmont, New York, dropped Zola with a left uppercut he never saw coming. Zola beat the count but the referee deemed him unable to continue, stopping the bout at the 48-second mark.

Layne, 22, is managed by Split-T Management.