By Ryan Burton
Oracle Arena, Oakland,Calif. - Super lightweight contender Maurice "Mighty Mo" Hooker (21-0-2) kept his unbeaten record intact with a 1st round knockout of Ty Barnett (23-5-1) in the co-featured bout of the evening. With the victory Hooker retained his NABO super lightweight title.
Hooker jumped on Barnett from the get go and peppered him with several hard shots and sent him to the canvas. Barnett rose to his feet on unsteady legs and continued to absorb punishment.
Hooker threw several punches but at a controlled pace and a straight right hand badly wobbled Barnett again which caused the referee to waive the fight off. Official time of the stoppage was 2:17.
Roc Nation Sports super middleweight prospect Junior Younan (10-0) scored a big knockout victory over Jinner Guerrero (9-7) in the first round of their bout. Guerrero pinned Younan mere seconds into the fight and landed several hard shots before getting caught and knocked to the canvas. He rose to his feet on wobbly legs and seconds later was floored again with a huge left hand. Guerrero's head bounced on the canvas and he laid motionless on the canvas for several minutes before being helped to his feet. The official time of the stoppage was 1:25.
Unbeaten heavyweight Darmani Rock (4-0) Mike Kyle (1-3-1) won an unanimous decision in an exciting slugfest that had great two way action. Rock dropped Kyle in the 4th round but Kyle was able to rise to his feet and make it to the final bell. I forgot the scores 40-35 and 39-36 twice.
Raquel "Pretty Beast" Miller (2-0) from nearby San Francisco, thrilled the local fans with an unanimous decision victory over Gabrielle Holloway (0-2). The action started fast with Miller throwing punches in bunches. The final scores were 40-36 twice and 39-37.
Featherweight prospect Daniel "Twitch" Franco improved to 14-0-3 with a 5th round stoppage of Marcelo Gallardo (7-4-2). Franco dropped Gallardo a few seconds into the fight and dominated the action until he dropped his outgunned opponent for a second time which prompted the referee to immediately call a halt to the bout. The time of the stoppage was :44.
In the opening bout of the evening, local fighter Bilal Mahasin (9-3-1) won an unanimous Luis Alfredo Lugo (14-26-1) in their welterweight bout.
The final tallies were 40-36 twice and 39-37.
Later tonight Andre Ward (29-0) will face Alexander Brand in a HBO televised bout. With a victory Ward will seal a November 19th pay-per-view fight against WBA/WBO/IBF light heavyweight champion Sergey Kovalev.
