Top cruiserweight contender Thabiso McHunu used combination punching, lateral movement and enough pop to control the gutsy Garrett Wilson over twelve rounds to win a unanimous decision in their NBC Sports headline fight. McHunu landed 54% of his power shots (non-jabs).
29-year old Lightweight Karl Dargan (17-0, 9 KO), 134, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, proved to have the better one, coming off the floor in round three to score two knockdowns and the stoppage in round five over 31-year old Angino Perez (17-6, 15 KO), 134, of Miami, Florida. The referee was Michael Ortega. The bout started at a technical clip as Dargan, at 5’9, tried to gauge the distance to his 6’1 opponent. In the third, a massive right from Perez had Dargan on the floor and in trouble. Using his legs to get his bearings, Dargan made it out of the round and had his response in the fifth.
Thabiso Mchunu and Garrett Wilson headline a rare Saturday afternoon edition of boxing on NBC, as the cruiserweights collide at Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. Both fighters easily made weight for their scheduled 10-round regional title fight (Saturday, NBC, 3:00PM ET). Mchunu (16-1, 11KOs) came in at 199 lb., while Wilson (13-7, 7KOs) tipped the scales at a trim and ready 193 lb.
By Jake Donovan - It was supposed to be the start of something new for Eddie Chambers upon dropping down to the cruiserweight division a year ago. A win over then-unknown Thabiso Mchunu would’ve announced his arrival at a weight class more befitting his frame, for once coming in as the big man after years of contending with heavyweights who regularly outweighed him by 20 pounds or more. The night turned out to be a starting point - but for Mchunu, who announced his U.S. arrival with an upset win last August, in a bout that ultimately sent Chambers back up the scale to heavyweight. “My goal was to make my name in the boxing world,” Mchunu said of the opportunity he received last year to face Chambers on NBC Sports Network. “After beating Eddie, this is where I always wanted to be.” Mchunu is now further along than even he expected. The squat cruiserweight from South Africa headlines a Saturday matinee edition of boxing on regular NBC, as he faces durable Garrett Wilson in a 10-round regional bout at Foxwoods Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. The fight is just Mchunu’s third outside of his native South Africa, all coming on promoter Main Events’ ‘Fight Night’ series. The 5’11” southpaw was brought back this past January, scoring a 10-round decision over transplanted Nigerian knockout artist Olanrewaju Durodola in Atlantic City.
Kathy Duva - Welcome everyone to the beautiful Foxwoods Resort Casino. This is going to be our fourth show on broadcast NBC. We are very proud to bring boxing back to network television. This card is going to bring a lot of excitement to the Saturday afternoon line-up. We plan on making boxing fans out of casual fans with this card. Photos by Daryl Bughman/Main Events Thank you to Foxwoods. I want to thank the commission. It is such a pleasure to work with the staff here. Tickets are still available through www.ticketmaster.com and through Foxwoods box office. Special discounts are still available. It is going to be an exciting afternoon of boxing. Come out, enjoy the fights and then take advantage of all that Foxwoods has to offer.
Karl "Dynamite" Dargan (16-0, 8 KOs) the current USBA Atlantic Coast Region Lightweight Champion looks to add another belt to his collection on Sept. 20, 2014 at Foxwoods Resort Casino when he faces Angino "The Nightmare" Perez (16-5, 14 KOs) for the Junior NABF Lightweight Title as the ten-round co-feature live on the broadcast NBC edition of Fight Night. The main event during the NBC broadcast will feature Thabiso "The Rock" Mchunu (16-1, 11 KOs) against Garrett "The Ultimate Warrior" Wilson (13-7-1, 7 KOs) for the NABF Cruiserweight Title.
Mashantucket, CT: Thabiso "The Rock" Mchunu (16-1, 11 KOs), the South African cruiserweight who burst onto the scene last August with an upset over "Fast" Eddie Chambers at Mohegan Sun returns to Connecticut to defend his NABF Cruiserweight Title against Garrett "The Ultimate Warrior" Wilson as the main event on a special broadcast NBC afternoon edition of Fight Night on Sep. 20 live from Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Undefeated lightweight prospect Karl Dargan will appear on the Sept. 20 NBC Sports Network show that will also feature cruiserweight Thabiso Mchunu vs. Garrett Wilson, according to Kathy Duva of promoter Main Events. Dargan is coming off a fifth-round stoppage of Anthony Flores, a win that moved the Philadelphia fighter’s record to 16-0 with 8 KOs. “If you say his fight on June 21, you saw a brilliant fighter who is starting to come into his own, and we want to keep that working, keep that coming forward,” Duva told BoxingScene.com.
Johannesburg - South African cruiserweight Thabiso Mchunu has been matched against Garrett Wilson in Connecticut, with the prospect of a WBC title shot if he wins the bout on September 20. South African promoter Damian Michael announced on Tuesday that his Showpony organization, along with Kathy Duva's Main Events, will stage the NBC Sports televised card in September. “Thabiso is already rated the number-two contender for the WBC title held by Krzysztof Wlodarczyk,” Michael said.
ATLANTIC CITY - When the popular nationally televised live boxing series Fight Night returns for its Friday, January 24th season opener on NBC Sports Network, the co-feature bout will be an intriguing clash for the NABF championship belt between two African cruiserweights. South African Thabiso "The Rock" Mchunu, 14-1, 10 KOs, meets Olanrewaju "God's Power" Durodola, 15-1, 14 KOs, of West Africa, in a 10-round fight at Resorts International Hotel and Casino, on the Atlantic City Boardwalk. Durodola stepped in when Garrett Wilson was forced to pull out of the bout due to an injury. The fight is the main supporting bout of a card headlined by the 10-round middleweight encounter between Curtis Stevens and Patrick Majewski.