NEW YORK — Andre Tsurkan knocked out Sammy Sparkman with a solid left hook to the jaw at 1:02 of the ninth round to successfully defend his NABF junior middleweight title Wednesday night.
Tsurkan, from the Ukraine but now fighting out of New York, outclassed Sparkman and registered his 16th knockout in the scheduled 10-round bout. There were no other knock downs.
Tsurkan, 154, is 25-2. Sparkman, also 154 of Columbia, Tenn., dropped to 19-14-1 with eight KOs.
Middleweight Raymond Joval of the Netherlands earned a unanimous 10-round decision over Willie Gibbs of Philadelphia. There were no knockdowns.
Joval, 160¼, is 36-4 with 16 KOs. Gibbs, 160½, fell to 20-3.