By Mark Vester
At the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, a Showtime televised tripleheader, which focused on up-and-coming super middleweight prospects, began with Edwin Rodriguez (15-0, 11KOs) stopping Kevin Engel (17-3-1, 14KOs) in the sixth round.
Rodriguez came out in the first round with heavy punches being thrown with both hands. In the third, Engel landed a lefthook that shook Rodriguez up. Rodriguez regained control before the third round closed. During the fourth, Rodriguez put a real hurt on Engel. He caught him with a lot of punches. Engel's face was swollen and bloody mess at this point. Engel was taking another bad beating in the sixth round. This time Rodriguez landed a hook to the body that put Engel down for the full count.
Don "The Bomb" George (20-0-1, 17KOs) won a unanimous eight round decision over
Osumanu Adama (14-2, 10KOs). The scores were 79-72, 76-75 and 77-74 for George.
The first three rounds were very spirited. They were trading some big shots from the distance. Adama was taking the fight to George in the fourth, pounding out combinations as he trapped George against the ropes.
The fifth was a back and forth battle. The sixth was more of the same, with both guys having their moments. In the seventh, a George landed the bomb to send Adama down in a very crucial moment. He beat the count and they traded until the bell. Adama seemed to stun George at the start of the eight. George battled back as they traded punches until the sound of the final bell.
The main event saw Marcus Johnson (19-0, 14KOs) win a calculated and workman-like ten round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Derek Edwards (25-1, 13KOs) to capture the NABO super middleweight title. Johnson worked harder and landed better in every round of the fight. Edwards seemed to run out of gas in the second half of the fight. The scores were 98-92, 98-92 and 97-92 for Johnson.