Ronald Ellis Bout Scrapped, Nelson Stops Burton in Two Rounds

By Francisco Salazar

Super middleweight Tori Nelson stopped Latashia Burton after the second round late Saturday night at the Silver Eagle Gun Arena in Ashburn, Virginia.

Nelson, who resides in Ashburn, dominated the action from the opening bell, beating Burton with combinations to the head before a partisan crowd.

Burton (4-10), who resides in Houma, Louisiana, has lost her last eight bouts.

Word is Nelson will likely face unbeaten IBF and WBC super middleweight titleholder Claressa Shields on Jan. 12 in Verona, N.Y. on a ‘ShoBox’ telecast.

Welterweight Malik Hawkins stopped Juan Jose Rivera of Mexico after the seventh round of a scheduled eight round bout.

Hawkins (12-0, 9 KOs), who hails from Baltimore, had not fought since Apr. 14. Rivera has lost nine of his last 10 bouts.

In junior bantamweight action, Alexandru Marin won an eight round unanimous decision over Juan Medina (10-2, 9 KOs). Scores were 80-71, 80-72, and 79-72 for Marin, who improves to 15-0, 10 KOs.

Super middleweight Ronald Ellis (14-0-1, 10 KOs)  was scheduled to fight on Saturday’s card, but the fight was postponed when opponent Taneal Goyco weighed 178 pounds, three pounds more than the contracted limit.

Ellis had not fought since Jan. 20 against Christopher Brooker, when he injured his right hand during the fight. Ellis had surgery several weeks after the fight.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for Boxingscene.com since September of 2012 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (Calif.) Star newspaper, RingTV.com, and FightNights.com. He can be reached by email at santio89@yahoo.com or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing