FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Francois Scarboro Jnr said prior to Friday’s bout that his first pro fight on the road woul be one of his best. He lived up to that claim, knocking out the previously unbeaten Onyx Sanchez-Medina at 2 minutes of the first round.
The fight opened up a ProBox TV card live from the War Memorial Auditorium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Scarboro, 12-0 (9 KOs), of Cheverly, Maryland, dropped Sanchez-Medina, 8-1-1 (8 KOs), with an overhand right that sent him into the ropes, leaving him open for two more follow-up shots before the referee interceded. Sanchez-Medina beat the count but was too compromised for the scheduled eight-round fight to continue.
The win was the fourth over an undefeated fighter for the 29-year-old Scarboro.
The fight figured to be a tough test for Scarboro, who tried to work his way inside against the taller Sanchez-Medina from a crouched position but ate a pair of left uppercuts for his trouble. Any questions about whether Scarboro was ready for this test were erased – as was Sanchez-Medina – with one overhand right.
In an absolute bloodletting, KJ Waialae improved his record to 3-0 (2 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of the brave but outgunned Rashad Bowens, 1-2 (1 KO), at the 2-minute, 2-seconds mark. There were no knockdowns, but it was clear early that the fight was heading in a bad direction for the southpaw Bowens, who was hurt by a right hand to the body in the first round. The 23-year-old Waialae, of Waianae, Hawaii, didn’t rush the stoppage, instead choosing to put his punches together and cut off his opponent’s escape routes.
Waialae busted Bowens’ nose in the second with nonstop flurries punctuated by left hooks. By the third, everything was landing as the exhausted Bowens struggled to breathe through the growing stream of blood. The referee stopped the fight as Bowens was unable to defend himself adequately.
Waialae is managed by Robert Diaz, who says Waialae will likely return to the ring in February.
Opening the card, former contender Claudio Marrero, 28-5 (20 KOs), returned to the ring after nearly three years of inactivity, stopping backsliding former title challenger Jayson Velez, 30-21-1 (21 KOs), by sixth-round stoppage. Marrero dropped Velez at the end of Round 5 of their eight-round scheduled lightweight fight, and the referee halted it 34 seconds into the following round after a flurry of light but undefended shots from Marrero.
Ryan Songalia is a reporter and editor for BoxingScene.com and has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler, The Guardian, Vice and The Ring magazine. He holds a Master’s degree in Journalism from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism and is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at ryansongalia@gmail.com or on Twitter at @ryansongalia.
