Heavyweight Gurgen Hovhannisyan made it a short night Friday when he stopped Chris Thomas inside three rounds at the Caribe Royale in Orlando, Florida.
Hovhannisyan, a 6ft 7ins Armenian, dwarfed Thomas, who had previously competed at middleweight, super middleweight and light heavyweight before a comeback to boxing in 2025 at heavyweight.
Hovhannisyan got to work right away, knocking down the 5ft 11ins Thomas with a right hand in the opening round. Things got no better for Thomas in the second round as a Hovhannisyan left hook-right hand combination sent Thomas to the canvas again.
Thomas continued to get up, but Hovhannisyan, 27, would end the fight in the third as a barrage of punches forced Thomas to a knee. This time the referee intervened, ending things at 1 minutes, 19 seconds of the third.
Hovhannisyan fought Friday without lead trainer Joe Goossen. Jonathan Walley served as the lead voice for this fight instead.
“Joe is not here physically, but I talked to him a lot on the phone,” Hovhannisyan said after the fight. “Jonathan is in my camp every day.”
Although Thomas put up little resistance, it was a big night nonetheless for Hovhannisyan, who headlined a DAZN broadcast and won a regional title with the win.
“This is a small step for a big future,” Hovhannisyan said.
Hovhannisyan got his second knockout victory of 2025, improving to 9-0 (8 KOs). Meanwhile, Thomas, also 27, fell to 15-2-2 (10 KOs).
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
