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It was a Money Team showcase tonight on ShoBox: The New Generation, and as seems to happen quite often with the Money Team and their showcases, things did not go according to plan. Chris Pearson was tested hard by Lanardo Tyner, and then Derek Edwards flattened Badou Jack in a minute. Here are the quick recaps:
Chris Pearson SD-8 Lanardo Tyner
Scores were 78-73 twice for Pearson, which were real house scores, and 76-75 Tyner. It was a close, competitive fight, and one in which prospect Pearson (11-0, 9 KO) was knocked down in round six. Pearson had moments where he looked good, particularly early, but 38-year-old Tyner (31-9-2, 20 KO) did his job as a prospect checker in this one, and if he hadn't taken the fight on 10 days' notice and had been in good shape, I think he would have probably been a bit much for Pearson, whose rawness was on display. But mostly I thought he acquitted himself OK, overall.
Derek Edwards TKO-1 Badou Jack
Uh, whoops. This definitely wasn't supposed to go down. Edwards, 1-3-1 in his last five fights, dating back to 2010, blew Jack up early, and finished him off with a second knockdown in one round. Well short of a round, in fact -- the official time of the stoppage was 1:01. Jack kind of protested, but he had no legs to stand on, figuratively or literally. Jack (16-1-1, 11 KO) has been an exposure waiting to happen, in my view, but this was still pretty shocking. Talk before the fight was that Badou was lining up to perhaps face James DeGale on the Mayweather-Maidana undercard. That's unlikely (though never impossible) now. Edwards is now 27-3-1 (14 KO) with the biggest win of his career, one that should buy the 34-year-old veteran a TV return. (FULL FIGHT VIDEO)
J'Leon Love TKO-10 Vladine Biosse
When this got stopped by referee Benjy Esteves, there was no better reason to stop it then than there had been in the previous six rounds or so, but hey, it's a stoppage, so Love is now 17-0 (10 KO). Biosse (15-3-2, 7 KO) was game early but pretty well outclassed, and took a big beating in round three, including a bad cut opened up over his right eye. It felt like Love should have gotten Biosse out of there sooner and more emphatically, but it just didn't happen.