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Willie Monroe Jr and Brandon Adams will meet in the Boxcino middleweight final on May 23 following a pair of solid wins tonight in eight-round semifinal bouts.
Adams (14-0, 9 KO) beat Ray Gatica on scores of 78-74, 78-74, and 75-77 for a split decision, which was pretty silly, but that's boxing for you. There's no good argument, I don't believe, for Gatica (14-3, 9 KO) to have won the fight. Teddy Atlas had his signature panic attack about it.
In the night's second contest, Monroe (17-1, 6 KO) outclassed Vitaliy Kopylenko (23-1, 13 KO), winning on scores of 79-73, 79-73, and 78-74. BLH had it 79-73 for Monroe, who looked like he should be the favorite going into the final bout in May, but it's close to a pick'em, at least in my view.
In the night's opening fight, heavyweight Nate Heaven (9-0, 7 KO) knocked out Donovan Dennis (9-1, 8 KO) at the end of the opening round with a short, brutal right hand that will be in the running for Knockout of the Year.