Eleider Alvarez TKO-7 Ryno Liebenberg
A pair of unbeaten prospects at 175 pounds, and one of them showed world class potential, while the other was totally out of his depth. Liebenberg (16-1, 11 KO) was cut on an uppercut in round three, then dropped really hard in round six on another one. Alvarez (16-0, 9 KO) was just better in every way. It was an outclassing, plain and simple. The fight was stopped on the cut, and rightly so. It wasn't getting better and he couldn't do anything with Alvarez.
Hekkie Budler UD-12 Xiong Zhao Zhong
Budler (27-1, 9 KO) overcame a bad start in this one, as he was dropped really hard in round two and had to survive the final minute or so, which he did pretty nicely. In round three, he returned the favor, putting Zhong (24-6-1, 14 KO) on the canvas, and from there, Budler took over the fight. Zhong was giving real effort the whole way, but Budler was the better fighter. Scores were 118-108, 114-112, and 114-112. BLH had it 118-108, too, with Budler sweeping the fight after round two. It was an entertaining fight and a good showing for Budler.
Nick Blackwell D-6 Sergey Khomitsky
This was a majority draw, scored 58-56 Blackwell, and 57-57 on the two other cards. It wasn't a bad decision, but a bit unlucky for Blackwell (15-3-1, 6 KO), who closed strong in the sixth round especially, beating up the rugged veteran Khomitsky (29-11-3, 12 KO) and hurting him repeatedly. BLH had it 58-56, as I gave Blackwell the fifth and sixth rounds to seal what would have been a solid victory. With two more rounds, Blackwell almost certainly would have taken this thing home, and possibly even stopped Khomitsky.