Photo: Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy
By Matt Richardson and Alex Dombroff at ringside
In an IBF and WBO jr welterweight eliminator, former two-division world champion Zab Judah (40-6, 27 KOs) won a split decision over previously unbeaten KO artist Lucas Matthysse (27-1, 25 KOs) on Saturday night at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ. For the first nine rounds, it was a tactical battle with Judah concentrating on head shots while Matthysse focused on the body. That all changed in round ten when Matthysse dropped Judah with a hard shot to the head, and further punished Judah in rounds eleven and twelve. It wasn’t enough, however, as Judah prevailed 114-113, 114-113 on two cards while the third card was 114-113 for Matthysse.
In a lightweight clash, two-division world champion Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero (28-1-1, 18 KOs) won a ten round unanimous decision over Olympian Vicente Escobedo (22-3, 14 KOs). Guerrero dropped Escobedo in rounds three and six and went to on win 100-88, 98-90, and 96-92.
Olympian welterweight Sadam Ali (10-0, 6 KOs) scored a second round TKO over Gary Bergeron (12-8, 7 KO’s). Time of the stoppage was 2:18
Junior lightweight Adrien Broner (18-0, 15 KOs) demolished veteran Ilido Julio (40-20-1, 35 KOs) in the very first round. Julio was down twice before the referee stopped the fight at the 1:34 mark.
Light heavyweight Angel Concepcion (3-0) topped Maurice Amaro (1-3) over four rounds. All three judges scored the fight 40-36 for Concepcion.
If it wasn’t apparent from his nickname, junior lightweight Mike “Lefty” Brooks is a southpaw, and that was enough to present Kywayne Hill with more than he could handle. Brooks (3-0, 1 KO), who brought a small, but noisy fan base from his home, Long Island, NY, spent most of the fight chasing a backpedaling Hill (1-6, 1 KO), and occasionally tagging him with straight lefts. With Hill not offering much in return, Brooks cruised to an easy decision, 40-36 on all three cards.
Junior lightweight Tyrone Luckey (2-0, 1 KO) TKO’d Alex Montes (1-2) at 2:55 of round three.
Unbeaten lightweight Mike Perez (10-0-1, 5 KOs) needed just 62 seconds to demolish Hevinson Herrera (14-7-1, 12 KOs).
Junior middleweight Bastie Samir (6-0, 6 KOs) scored a first round TKO over Damion Reed (2-4, 1 KO). Time of the stoppage was 2:47.
Welterweight Mikael Zewski (5-0, 3 KOs) won a four round unanimous decision over Ardrick Butler (5-3, 2 KOs) by three scores of 40-36.
