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Krzysztof Wlodarczyk retained his WBC cruiserweight title tonight in Chicago with a stoppage win against old rival Giacobbe Fragomeni in their third fight, and Andrzej Fonfara smashed Samuel Miller in two rounds in a stay-busy bout at light heavyweight.
Wlodarczyk (49-2-1, 35 KO) was too fresh and too strong for his 44-year-old foe tonight, cutting Fragomeni (31-4-2, 12 KO) under the eye, which eventually sort of led to the finish, as Fragomeni retired from the bout after round six. He had already been down hard in the fight and was just being beaten by a bigger, better fighter with more left in the tank, but as always, Fragomeni was tough and trying. It just wasn't there tonight.
Fonfara (25-2, 15 KO) kept himself in the mix for a title shot at 175 pounds, where he's a sanctioning body top contender and a solid fringe contender in reality. He's exciting to watch and has power, so there's some hope circulating that he'll fight Sergey Kovalev or Adonis Stevenson, but those fights seem beyond his level to me. Still, you only find out when you find out. This was a highlight reel knockout, not that Samuel Miller (26-8, 23 KO) was a great opponent.
On the undercard, Jonathan Gonzalez improved to 17-0-1 (14 KO) with a win over Colombia's Jaison Palomeque (14-8-1, 9 KO). Gonzalez was fighting at 165 pounds in this one, and looked exceptionally soft, as a junior middleweight who weighed in at 165 is bound to do. He looked about like he did when he fought Serhiy Dzinziruk, which is to say not good, but since Palomeque isn't any good, that was enough to dominate. Gonzalez won by stoppage in round five.
Chicago favorite Adrian Granados upped his record to 13-2-2 (9 KO) with a RTD-5 win over Carlos Winston Velasquez (21-18-1, 11 KO). Granados, 24, is really a decent fighter, and we've seen him give the likes of Kermit Cintron (D-10), Frankie Gomez (L-MD-8), and Lanardo Tyner (D-8) tough fights already in his career. He's one to watch, even though he's already lost twice and in most circles would not be a "prospect" anymore. Losses are overrated. Or underrated, maybe.