- Aslanbek Kodzoev vs. Julio Cesar De La Cruz
Aslanbek Kodzoev, of Philadelphia, PA, overcame three knockdowns to gain a ninth-round technical knockout over heavy-handed Julio Cesar De La Cruz, of the Domican Republic.
Kodzoev, 154 pounds, was on the canvas in the third, fifth and sixth rounds, but only the fifth round knockdown, caused by a wide left hook, appeared solid. The knockdown in the third came from a cuffing punch high on the head and Kodzoev appeared to slip on the new Miller Litle logo in mid-ring, and the one in the sixth, also on the Miller Lite logo, was more of a push. But less than 30 seconds after the left-hook knockdown in round five, De La Cruz began wiping at his left eye which was caused, according to ref Steve Smoger, from an overhand right Kodzoev had just landed.
Kodzoev continued to punch away at the cut eye the rest of the way until Smoger called in ringside physician Dr. Paul Steinberg, who waved off the fight at 1.06 of the ninth. Dr. Steinberg had visited De La Cruz' corner after the sixth and seventh rounds and it appeared he was going to stop it on both occasions but did not.
Kodzoev, 23, won three (four one one card) of the eight completed rounds and was doing well in the ninth. However, De La Cruz, 28, had three two-point rounds in the bank by the time Kodzoev mounted his comeback.
The win brings the No. 14-ranked (WBC) Kodzoev to 14-1-2, 9 K0s, while the loss drops De La Cruz to 15-4-1, 14 K0s.
In the junior welterweight semifinal, Chucky T continued to feast on New England competition when Jimmy LeBlanc, of South Boston, MA, failed to answer the bell for the sixth round of their scheduled eight-round contest.
Chucky T, 142.25, started slow, then floored LeBlanc, 144.5, early in round five with a right hand-left hook combination. That was it for LeBlanc. He got on his bike and moved and held the rest of that round and the next before staying on his stool when the bell rang to begin round six.
The win moved Chucky T's record to 25-8-1, 13 K0s. He is 27 years old. LeBlanc, 30, drops to 10-7-4, 3 K0s.
In other bouts: Heavyweight John Poore, 218, Boothwyn, PA, made it 15 K0s in 15 pro fights when Franklin Edmundson, 217, Durham, NC, failed to answer the bell for the second round of their scheduled six-rounder. Edmundson was down twice in the first; unbeaten lightweight Ramazan Paliani, 135, Northeast Philadelphia, dominated Isidro Tejedor, 135, Miami, FL, winning their eight-round contest by scores of 80-71 from all three judges. Tejedor was down in the second; Kevin Carmody, 134 pounds, Philadelphia, won a unanimous six-round decision (58-56, 60-54, 60-54) over lefty Dave Evans, 133.25, of New Castle, DE, lightweights. It marked Evans' first lost in nine fights; Avtandil Khurtsidze, 153.5, Northeast Philadelphia, K0d Leo Edwards, 154.5, South Philadelphia, at 2.17 of the sixth, junior middleweights; Richard Stewart, 220, New Castle, DE, scored a one-punch knockout at 1.37 of the first round over Jasper Cooper, 221, North Philadelphia, heavyweights.