By Kurt Wolfheimer and John Di Santo at ringside
Photos: Ray Bailey
In an IBF junior middleweight eliminator, #3 rated Gabriel Rosado (21-5, 13 KOs) scored a tenth round TKO over 38-year-old #2 Charles Whittaker (36-12-2, 21 KOs) on Friday night at the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, PA. Rosado dropped Whittaker near the end of round five, but Whittaker rocked Rosado with a left hook at the bell. Rosado dropped the super game Whittaker again in the seventh and twice in the tenth prompting referee Steve Smoger to wave it off. Time was 1:50.
Unbeaten WBC #12 light heavyweight Sergey Kovalev (19-0-1, 17 KOs) destroyed Lionell Thompson (12-2, 8 KOs). Kovalev dropped Thompson twice at the end of round two and immediately finished him in the third. Time was :14. Kovalev was originally slated to face former WBA world champion Gabriel Campillo, who pulled out with a bad back.
Welterweight Antwone Smith (22-4-1, 12 KOs) scored an upset ten round split decision over previously unbeaten hometown favorite Ronald Cruz (17-1, 12 KOs). Scores were 96-94, 96-94, Smith, 96-94 Cruz. The bout was originally a twelve-rounder for the WBC Continental Americas title, but Smith didn’t make weight so it ended up being a ten-round non-title affair.
