By Cliff Rold & David P. Greisman

MORE LIVE RESULTS TO COME...................

25-year old middleweight Christopher Pearson (14-1, 10 KO), 159, of Trotwood, Ohio, won a ten-round unanimous decision over Ghanaian-born 36-year old Joshua Okine (28-7-1, 17 KO), 158 ¾, of Silver Spring, Maryland. It was never a scintillating affair, but the occasional big counter shot spoke to the sort of night the victor was having. In a battle of jabs and ring position, it was Pearson who maintained just enough edge to keep a night long streak of matching scores going at 98-92 thrice over. The referee was Billy Johnson.

27-year old Ugandan former lightweight title challenger Sharif Bogere (28-1, 19 KO), 135 ½, of Las Vegas, Nevada, won a lopsided ten-round unanimous decision over 31-year old Ghanaian Samuel Amoako (21-10, 15 KO), 136, of Silver Spring, Maryland. Working behind a steady jab, and picking spots for occasional combinations, Bogere grinded out a win over a game but outmatched Amoako. Amoako never consistently moved his hands and the fight never felt like much more than a workout for Bogere. Bogere earned scores of 100-90 across the board. The referee was Kenny Chevalier.  

In light heavyweight action, 27-year old Ecuadorian Carlos Gongora (7-0, 4 KO), 173, of Brooklyn, New York, quickly dispatched of professional opponent Zac Kelley (5-15, 5 KO), 170 ¼, of Lawton, Oklahoma. Gongora landed seemingly at will with both the left and right, scoring two official knockdowns. The first knockdown saw Kelley nearly fall out of the ring. After the second trip to the deck, referee Billy Johnson mercy stopped the bout at 1:50 of the first.   

The fight between Latondria Jones and Kamika Slade wasn't over before it began, but it was definitely over shortly afterward — just 18 seconds after the opening bell rang. Jones hurt Slade with a right hand and followed forward as Slade turned her head and moved away. Jones landed a few more rights before referee Kenny Chevalier stepped in. Jones, a 29-year-old junior middleweight from Las Vegas, is now 3-0 with 2 KOs. Slade lost in her pro debut.

Local lightweight Keegan Grove (1-0), 133, of Washington, DC, got his professional career off to a positive start with a workmanlike four-round decision over 33-year old Anthony Napunyi (14-19, 7 KO), 128 ½, of Canal Point, Florida. The loss was Napunyi’s 15th in a row, coming in at unanimous scores of 40-36. The referee was David Braslow.

The opening bout of the evening ended in one of the rarest of fashions.

In the junior middleweight division, a pair of undefeated fledgling pros stayed undefeated as all three judges came in identically at 38-38, a unanimous draw. Moshea Allen (4-0-1, 2 KO), 153 ¾, of Richmond, Virginia, and Martez Jackson (2-0-2, 1 KO), 153, of Macon, Georgia, both delivered a spirited effort and landed some good shots. Neither landed enough to make a case over the other.  

The super middleweight headliners were televised in the US on Showtime as part of its “Championship Boxing” series, promoted by Mayweather Promotions.   

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com