TOLEDO, OH. - Unbeaten lightweight world champion Robert Easter (20-0, 14 KOs) successfully defended his title for the second time Friday night with a victory over top contender Denis Shafikov (38-3, 20 KOs) in the main event of Premier Boxing Champions on Bounce from the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio. Photos by Heather Nearhoof/PBC.
"I'm thankful for my team preparing me for this victory," said Easter. "I give my performance a B- tonight. I could have done a lot better. I fought on the inside more at the beginning of the fight but my team wanted me to box so I was able to do that late and get the win."
"I know a lot of guys' weakness is their gas tank so I wanted to go after him and test him early," said Easter. "Shafikov proved that's he's a tough opponent but we were able to get the job done."
The fight ebbed and flowed for 12-rounds, with both men gaining control for moments before being forced to deal with adversity. Easter was given the unanimous decision and retained his belt, although the judges scores of 120-108 twice and 116-112 did not capture the competitive nature of the contest.
Conley was able to land occasional power punches, but was never able to slow the attack from Williams. Early in round seven a left to the eye forced Conley to take a knee and try to recover.
Williams sensed his opportunity and quickly pounced on Conley, teeing off with power punches until Conley's corner threw in the towel and forced the referee to stop the fight 58 second into the round.
Golub continued to keep the pressure on as Clark regained his composure while spending most of the fifth round moving laterally away from Golub. The final rounds saw Clark returning to his boxing fundamentals as he tried to keep the aggressive Golub at a distance with his jab. After eight rounds of action, the judges ringside saw the fight for Clark by the scores of 77-75 twice and 79-73.
