Fringe junior welterweight contender Mykal Fox defeated Johnny Arellano by unanimous decision Friday night at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Scores were 80-71, 80-71, and 78-73 for Fox, who improves to 22-1, 5 knockouts.
In a matchup of unusually tall fighters at 140 pounds, Fox utilized his reach to connect from the outside. Arellano did find some success getting on the inside of Fox’s guard but would get punished to the head counter hooks and crosses to the head.
During an exchange in round five, Fox scored the only knockdown of the fight, dropping Arellano to the canvas. Arellano would beat the count, continuing to be game the rest of the fight.
“Johnny is tough and was awkward,” said Fox, who stands almost 6’4”. “He has some height on him (and they) presented some challenges, but we made the adjustments like we are supposed to.”
With the victory, Fox has now won his last three bouts since losing by decision to undefeated Shohjahon Ergashev on Feb. 15. His most notable victory occurred almost three months later, defeating previously-unbeaten and amateur standout Fazliddin Gaibnazarov.
“In 2020, we are looking for good fights, and just keep moving forward. That’s the biggest thing. We are going to go back in the gym, and work on the things we need to. I am going to work on what we did bad, and improve on what we did good, and look for a big 2020. We are going to keep working.”
Arellano, who resides in Conroe, Texas, drops to 10-2, 9 KOs.
Junior featherweight Marcus Bates of Washington, DC dropped Mexico’s Francisco Pedroza (13-10-2, 7 KOs) in round eight en route to a unanimous decision.
Scores were 80-71, 80-71, and 78-73 for Bates, who is ranked No. 10 by the WBA.
Super middleweight prospect Kalvin Henderson (12-0-1, 8 KOs) of Fayetteville, Arkansas and Armenia-born Genc Pllana fought to a majority-decision draw.
One judge scored the bout 79-73 for Pllana (7-1-1, 4 KOs), while the other two judges scored the bout 76-76.
In a clash of unbeaten fighters, Iraqi-born Devar Ferhadi (8-0, 7 KOs), who recently completed medical school, dropped Vincent Baccus (4-1-1, 3 KOs) of Okmulgee, Oklahoma twice before the fight was stopped in round five.
In junior lightweight action, Martino Jules of Allentown, Pennsylvania dropped Houston’s Eric Manriquez (7-10-1, 3 KOs) twice en route to a unanimous decision victory.
Scores were 60-52, 60-52, and 59-53 for Jules, who improves to 8-0, 1 KO.
Welterweight Shinard Bunch (5-1 1 NC, 4 KOs) of Trenton, New Jersey defeated Mexico’s Vicente Morales (3-5-2, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision. Scores were 60-54, 59-55, and 58-56 for Bunch.
Lightweight Tyrone Jones (5-6-1, 2 KOs) of South Bend, Indiana stopped previously-unbeaten Shamar Fulton (4-1-1 2 NCs, 3 KOs) of Alhambra, California at 2:10 of the second round.
Promoter of the card was Marshall Kauffman.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for BoxingScene since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing
