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Andre Dirrell UD-10 Blake Caparello
Dirrell (25-2, 16 KO) wasn't great tonight, but he got the job done in a physical fight that was largely spent with Caparello (22-2-1, 6 KO) leaning against the ropes and clinching, plus getting hit with some Dirrell rabbit shots.
The high point for drama came in round two, when Caparello dropped Dirrell. It was a round Caparello was losing to that point, and was also the only round he would win in the fight:
#Caparello sends #Dirrell to the canvas late in round 2. #PBConSpike #DirrellCaparello https://t.co/YuwHJlUYpS
— PBC (@premierboxing) April 30, 2016
Here's more or less a snapshot of the remainder of the bout:
.@andredirrel continues to show dominance late in this fight, although being dropped in round 1. #PBConSpike https://t.co/VsU2nIbJIv
— PBC (@premierboxing) April 30, 2016
Dirrell called out all the world champions afterward during a shouting promo that was a combination of Dusty Rhodes and the Ultimate Warrior, and was sort of awesome. He was also filming it on his phone. So that was different.
Anthony Dirrell TKO-1 Caleb Truax
I thought going in this was the fight with the highest upset chance. Not a good upset chance, and I wasn't picking an upset, but the matchup most likely of the three to produce something unexpected. Not so much! Well, it was probably unexpected that Dirrell (29-1, 23 KO) would stop Truax (26-3-2, 16 KO) in the first round.
Dirrell hammered Truax with a big right hand that backed the Minnesotan down, then followed up to put him on the canvas. Pretty much as soon as Truax got up, he was down again, and referee Harvey Dock jumped in to stop the fight.
Down goes Truax in just over 1:30 in round 1. @Anthonydirrell proclaims "I want my rematch Badu!" #PBConSpike https://t.co/BcBEbwvkhH
— PBC (@premierboxing) April 30, 2016
"I want everybody. Everybody that got a championship, come see me! I'm ready! I'm more focused than ever! I want the straps! Undisputed, let's go!" Dirrell told Spike's Jimmy Smith after the fight.
If you're wondering how Truax felt after the fight, he tweeted:
Not how I envisioned that, to say the least. Im fine. Thank you for all the support & to everyone who had me in their thoughts. #TeamTruax
— caleb truax (@GoldenCalebT) April 30, 2016
Jonathan Guzman RTD-8 Daniel Rosas
Guzman (21-0, 21 KO) kept his perfect record and perfect knockout rate with this win, and also moved into the No. 2 slot in the IBF's super bantamweight rankings. He'll now face Japan's Shingo Wake for the vacant title, which Carl Frampton just relinquished to fully move up to featherweight.
Guzman was solid here, dealing with the pressure of Rosas (24-3-1, 12 KO) early in the fight and landing a lot of clean, hard shots. That was the real difference -- Guzman just had better firepower, and despite Rosas' admirable determination, his work never seemed to truly bother Guzman, who was happy to travel around the ring and pick shots even when Rosas was doing his best work. Rosas did land some shots early and did some nice body work, but as the fight wore on, the power of Guzman became a problem, and Rosas was being beaten up.
Rosas got dropped hard at the end of the fifth round:
MASSIVE left hook by #Guzman puts #Rosas to the floor as Round 5 comes ends. Can Rosas go another round? #PBConSpike https://t.co/qKqh5CZUSK
— PBC (@premierboxing) April 30, 2016
He survived that, though he was on bad legs going back to his corner, and got through a couple more rounds. But he was fading from the fight all the time, and a second knockdown late in the eighth round was enough. The fight was stopped after the round, with Rosas' nose bloodied and his left eye swelling shut.