Jarrell Miller stops Fred Kassi on broken hand, Mason Menard knocks out Bahodir Mamadjonov in Rochester

Jarrell Miller stepped into the ring tonight weighing nearly three hundred pounds and he used every ounce to great effect. In the main event of a ShoBox quadrupleheader, Miller overwhelmed Fred Kassi in three rounds before the latter bowed out with a broken hand.

Kassi (18-6-1, 10 KO) landed well early as the hulking Miller advanced, but once Miller (18-0-1, 16 KO) started throwing things quickly swing in his favor. A consistent body attack, great chin, and short right hand all worked well for "Big Baby" as he advanced.

Midway through the third, Kassi appeared hurt and Miller poured it on, confidently stalking after him with his hands down. Kassi shook his head on the way to his corner and informed them that he could no longer use his right hand, resulting in an injury stoppage.

Miller showed his customary lack of defense, but his punch selection looked good and he worked the body well. The man can do damage, no doubt, and he’s still decently young for the division at twenty-eight. Looking forward to seeing more of him.

Louisiana prospect Mason Menard came up big in the co-feature, knocking out capable Uzbek Bahodir Mamadjonov in the ninth round.

Mamadjonov (19-3, 11 KO) controlled the first six rounds or so, landing repeated left hands from the southpaw stance while Menard (32-1, 24 KO) stalked after him with loaded-up punches. Mamadjonov seemed to have things well in hand until the seventh round, when Menard battered him with body shots to score two knockdowns.

"Baha" rebounded somewhat in the eighth round, but a tremendous straight right in the ninth took his legs out. Menard stormed after him with brutal punches until Mamadjonov managed to tie up; as Steve Smoger separated them, however, Mamadjonov stumbled to the mat and stayed down for quite some time.

It was quite a showcase for Menard’s power; he’s still a fairly raw technician, but the pop is undoubtedly there.

The second bout of the evening featured some horrific judging. Late-notice replacement Alejandro Santiago (11-2-2, 3 KO) gave unbeaten Antonio Nieves (16-0-2, 8 KO) a boxing lesson for ten rounds, controlling the fight with his speed and movement and leaving his foe a step behind. Nieves was forced to rely on a jab and some shots as Santiago slipped out of range, fighting a reactive fight and letting Santiago dictate the pace.

All three Showtime announcers had Santiago ahead. I had him up 98-92. The judges gave a split draw.

This was absolute garbage. Nieves, who was originally set to fight Nikolay Potapov, unquestionably deserved the loss and Santiago deserved the boost to his career a win would give. We can only hope "Peque" gets some credit for this.

The evening began with a fun scrap between Kazakh prospect Bakhtiyar Eyubov and veteran Karim Mayfield, a considerable step up for Eyubov. It looked as though it may have been too big a step up, but the judges ultimately gave Eyubov the split nod.

Despite his foe’s proclivity for ending things early, Mayfield (19-4-1, 11 KO) immediately took it to him, landing well in the phone booth and smothering Eyubov’s wild swings. He seemed decently in control for the early portion of the fight, but Eyubov (11-0, 10 KO) showed surprising cardio and began landing with increasing success.

Eyubov’s insistence on targeting the body paid dividends, although it did cost him a point in the eighth for repeated low blows. Around that time, Mayfield found a second wind and starting outlanding the Kazakh with combinations to the head and body. He was firmly in control when the bell finally rang.

I had it 97-92 for Mayfield with a few close rounds, while the Showtime crew had it either 95-94 or 96-93. The judges disagreed with a split trio of 95-94s to keep Eyubov’s undefeated record intact.

This isn’t quite a robbery, I’d say, although I disagree with it. Eyubov did land some big shots in the early rounds and his history of knockouts could have given his blows more weight with the judges. The one weird thing is that Eyubov seemed to be throwing things at the wall to see what would stick; at various points in the fight, he fought with his hands down, tried the shoulder roll, tried the old Archie Moore cross-arm guard, and even talked trash at Mayfield. It was like watching a novice Fight Night player try to learn the controls.

Whether or not he deserved the win, he’s a fun guy to watch.

For quick results and round-by round coverage of the night’s proceedings, click here.