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Demetrius Andrade took care of business quickly tonight, stopping Jason Quigley in the second round of a world title mismatch to retain his WBO middleweight title.
To be fair, Andrade (31-0, 19 KO) did about what most feel he should do in a matchup like this one. Quigley (19-2, 14 KO) came in nowhere near anybody’s top 10 in the division, save perhaps for the nonsense rankings of sanctioning bodies, and had been taken apart in the biggest fight of his career beforehand, a 2019 loss to Tureano Johnson.
Quigley tried to get Andrade to bite on feints in the first round, but it didn’t really work out, and the Irishman found himself on the canvas in that same opening frame. Andrade put Quigley down again in the second and thought he’d knocked him out, but Quigley was game and did try to fight on, only to get dropped and stopped shortly after that.
The official time of the stoppage was 2:24 of round two, and it was easy work for “Boo Boo” Andrade.
“I did what I said,” Andrade remarked. “I felt good and looked good. I delivered the message, which was stop Quigley, and I’m on to the next. Who’s next?”
“I wanted to get in there, put some damage in early, and that’s exactly what I did. He felt the first liver shot, and it was time to eat,” he said of his approach to this fight. “You guys wanted knockouts, and I delivered!”
Andrade said he wants fights with Jaime Munguia, and either the winner or loser of the Golovkin-Murata fight coming next month. He expressed frustration that he hasn’t been able to land a big fight, but also brought some good humor to the situation, addressing both DAZN’s Chris Mannix and promoter Eddie Hearn, who made a passionate plea for Andrade to get big fights.
Julio Cesar Martinez ND-3 McWilliams Arroyo
Martinez and Arroyo finally got into the ring tonight after two prior dates fell through, and for two rounds they delivered big action, but the fight came to an end with a no-contest after those two rounds.
Arroyo (21-4, 16 KO) had the fight stopped saying he couldn’t see due to a double cut on his right eye, which referee Johnny Callas ruled to be caused by an accidental headbutt. Since the fight had not gone four rounds, there’s no decision.
Arroyo started hot, dropping Martinez (18-1, 14 KO) in the opening round on a nasty left hook. But Martinez bounced back up and kept fighting as he always does, winging effectively wild shots. He dropped Arroyo hard at the end of the first round, and Arroyo looked much more unsure of himself in the second.
Replays seemed to indicate Arroyo’s initial cut was caused by a clash of heads, and it was definitely made worse by another one shortly after. Arroyo was also ruled down again in round two, and then we got the anticlimactic finish.
Arroyo will quite possibly petition for a rematch, and may get it. What a saga it has been.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev UD-12 Jose Velasquez
Akhmadaliev retains his WBA and IBF junior featherweight titles, clearly winning the decision over the game but mostly outclassed Velasquez, a short-notice replacement opponent for mandatory challenger Ronny Rios, who pulled out late with COVID.
Akhmadaliev (10-0, 7 KO) will still be facing Rios next time out, and Ronny probably got some stuff to pick up in this fight. While the scores were wide and deservedly so (119-109 across the board from the judges, 118-110 from Bad Left Hook), “MJ” showed a bit more vulnerability in this fight than we’ve seen from him before.
Velasquez (29-7-2, 19 KO) was able to hurt the Uzbek titlist to the body a fair bit, and he also used an unpredictable attacking style to fluster Akhmadaliev at points, leading to Akhmadaliev repeatedly going low with shots, and also pulling Velasquez down by the head, fouling a good bit in general. It was not the usual strong performance from Akhmadaliev, which will get lost in BoxRec listing the scores and the W. He didn’t jab as effectively as he usually does and was made uncomfortable more than normal, which is a credit to the spirited effort of Velasquez to be sure.
Kali Reis SD-10 Jessica Camara
A very close fight, with good action and good work rate from both, Reis getting the nod to hold on to her WBA 140 lb title and pick up the vacant WBO belt, which also sets up an undisputed title fight with WBC/IBF titleholder Chantelle Cameron in 2022.
Scores were 97-93 twice for Reis, and 95-94 for Camara. Reis (19-7-1, 5 KO) probably got a tougher fight than most expected, but I thought she landed the better shots on the whole and took the fight over down the stretch, pretty well winning the last three rounds and having a big 10th round, where Camara (8-3, 0 KO) sort of came undone when she suffered a nasty cut on the eye. Reis was exhausted for those last few rounds, too, but she was truly determined not to leave anything in the ring.
Reis landed 158 of 556 (28%) total punches according to CompuBox, with Camara at 159 of 547 (29%), so even the numbers tell you how competitive this was.
“I was sure (I had the win), but I knew it was close. I knew Jess was a tough fighter. I’m getting boos, but a win is a win. Y’all can boo me all you want,” Reis said after the fight. “Hats off to Jessica Camara, I knew she was going to bring it and it was a tough fight.”
“She definitely worked hard, she tried to chop me down to the body, which is smart,” Reis added. “She’s a hell of a fighter. She can pop! A fight’s a fight. She came up to 140 and was banging with me, so kudos.”
“I felt it was close. I felt like that last round really cost me. I got hit with something and it really set me off. I just want to say congrats to Kali, she’s one hell of a fighter and it’s an honor to share the ring with her,” Camara said. “I’m proud of myself. I come back stronger after my defeats and I have a bright future ahead of me. One day, I will be world champion.”
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