- The most anticipated fight of last week was the one between sluggers David Lemieux and Curtis Stevens on HBO. Most fans were expecting a fairly even fight with plenty of fireworks and got pretty much what they expected. Lemieux came out very fast in the first round and buzzed Stevens twice while Stevens worked behind the high guard as he looked to set up big counter shots. In the second round Stevens was able to catch Lemieux with a few of those counter punches but Lemieux kept piling on the punches and was never really backed up. About a minute into the third round with Stevens on the ropes, Lemieux landed a big straight right hand and when Stevens went to throw a left hook Lemieux threw one of his own that caught Stevens clean on the chin. The punch was devastating and not only dropped Stevens but knocked him out cold in what was a scary few minutes. It was the type of win that Lemieux needed and it is the leader in the clubhouse for the 2017 Knockout of the Year. The other fight on HBO's card was a total stinker between Yuriorkis Gamboa and Rene Alvarado. From the start Gamboa was able to control the action and kept the usually aggressive Alvarado from doing much. Gamboa didn't open up much offensively in a fight that had fans booing. While Gamboa did get dropped in the 10th round it was more of a slip and when the scores were announced Gamboa got the unanimous decision win in a performance that probably won't help his career.
- Also on Saturday night was a fight between Juan Francisco Estrada and Anuar Salas. Estrada has proven himself to be one of the most talented fighters in the sport but his career has seemed to stall a bit and his last two fights came against opponents no one gave a real shot to win. After starting somewhat slowly, Estrada really started to come on. In the fifth round Estrada was able to hurt Salas to the body a few times and with about a minute left in the round he caught Salas with a right hand to the body that would drop him and end the fight. Estrada hasn't lost a fight since his 2012 bout against Roman Gonzalez and hopefully his next fight comes against a more dangerous opponent.
- On Friday night the most decorated U.S. Olympic boxer in history made her debut on Showtime. That Showtime card was another of their usually exciting ShoBox: The New Generation series and it marked the first time a woman headlined a premium cable card. That woman was two-time Olympic gold medalist Claressa Shields and she took on veteran Szilvia Szabados. Right from the start Shields did anything she wanted and it looked like Szabados wouldn't even survive the first round. Szabados showed a ton of heart though and was able to make it to the fourth round. In that round, after eating numerous power punches, Szabados took a clean left hook to the face that snapped her head back. While she didn't go down from the punch the impact, along with the amount of punishment she had already sustained forced the ref to jump in and put an end to the fight, giving Shields the second win of her professional career. Also on that card was a 10-round bout between Nikolay Potapov and Antonio Nieves. The fight was extremely close for all 10 rounds but when the scores were read Potapov was awarded the split decision, an outcome Nieves certainly didn't agree with.
- Also on Friday night the undefeated Andy Vences took on Angel Hernandez on UniMas. Vences was able to get the unanimous decision win but against a limited opponent he probably didn't look as good as he would have hoped. Still, he kept his perfect record intact and with a record of 18-0, including 10 knockouts, he can now go on to bigger fights.
- Friday was a very busy night of boxing and Telemundo also aired a card. The main event of that card featured a bout between Mauricio Pintor and Patricio Moreno. On paper the fight looked like it would be a close one and in the ring it was just that. The action was back and forth for most of the 10-round fight but when the scores were announced it was Moreno who came away the winner by the way of split decision.
WEEKLY RECORD: 6-1
MONTHLY RECORD: 9-1
OVERALL RECORD: 843-244-34
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