Spence Wins on “ShoBox,” Redkach Gets W on ESPN

ERROL SPENCE, JR. IMPRESSES WITH RESOUNDING

UNANIMOUS DECISION VICTORY OVER RONALD CRUZ;

Dominic Wade Remains Unbeaten With Unanimous Decision Victory Over Nick Brinson

On ShoBox: The New Generation

Catch Replay Tuesday, July 1, at 9 p.m. ET/PT On SHOWTIME EXTREME

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Credit: Esther Lin / SHOWTIME

Tom Hogan / Golden Boy Promotions

LAS VEGAS (June 27, 2014) – Undefeated Errol Spence, Jr. didn’t lose a round and may have made the transition from prospect to contender in a dominating unanimous decision victory (100-90 three times) over the durable Ronald Cruz in the main event of ShoBox: The New Generation on SHOWTIME^® from The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.

Spence (13-0, 10 KOs) was remarkably efficient with his power punches, landing 282 shots compared to Cruz’s 65 at a rate of 58 percent. Looking like a potential future world champion, the 2012 U.S. Olympian was technically sound and sharp with his punches, picking apart the courageous Cruz (20-4, 15 KOs) as he went past the eighth round for the first time in his career. Conditioning certainly wasn’t an issue for the 24-year-old, who threw more punches in the 10^th and final round (114) than he did in any other round in the fight.

“After this fight, I learned that I can go the full 10 rounds and sustain my energy for all the rounds,” Spence said. “I blocked, banged, threw the punches, stayed composed, and stuck to the game plan. I came into this fight in great condition and I can attribute that to a great training camp.

“I honestly thought I was going to knock him out in the sixth or seventh, but he’s tough and he came to fight. I’ve seen his fights before and he always comes in with a lot of pride.”

Fighting a southpaw for the first time, it was impressive the outmatched Cruz made it to the final bell with the amount of punishment he was taking. He suffered a cut over his left eye due to accidental headbutt in the second round and another cut over the right eye from a punch in the seventh.

“I don’t know what went wrong in there. It was hard to see out of that eye from the cut and he kept landing that straight left. I didn’t want them to stop the fight because I still thought I had a chance.”

ShoBox color commentator Steve Farhood couldn’t think of anything bad to say about Spence following the impressive performance.

“For the entire fight, we had nothing but glowing praise for Spence to the point where I felt compelled to think of a negative and I was stumped,” Farhood said. “He’s good technically, he’s mature, and when you throw 114 punches the first time you’ve ever seen the 10^thround nobody can question his condition either. Spence will be a contender soon and he’s a star in the making.”

In the opening bout of the telecast, undefeated middleweight prospect Dominic Wade kept his perfect record intact with a unanimous decision victory over previously once-beatenNick Brinson, scored 96-94, 97-93 twice.

Wade (16-0,11 KOs), who went past six rounds for the first time in his career, was relaxed and controlled the pace from the opening bell. His speed and efficiency was the difference, as he kept Brinson (16-2-2, 6 KOs) at a distance and consistently landed power shots and combos with ease. Wade slowed a bit in the later round as he entered previously uncharted waters, but he fought carefully, kept his distance and didn’t allow Brinson to disrupt his game plan.

“I am happy with the way that I fought tonight,” said Wade, who looked tired but unscathed. “I felt good and strong in the ring. I have been training to go the distance and I wasn’t looking for a knockout.

“Brinson has an awkward style but I executed my routine and plan and it worked out in my favor. I kept my left hand low because I was worried about him coming up on top of me. Overall, I am proud of my performance.”

After losing his first 10-round fight and coming back from the second-longest layoff of his career (8 months), Brinson was disappointed by the result.

“I started a little slow tonight,” Brinson said. “He clearly won the first three rounds, but I felt like I came on strong in the middle rounds, especially with the body shots.

“I was the aggressor towards the end of the fight. I felt like maybe it was a draw, but the judges’ didn’t see it that way. I gave it my all and sometimes it just doesn’t fall in your favor.”

While not overly impressed with his performance, Farhood thought it was a valuable learning experience for Wade.

“It was a big step up for Wade and I thought that he responded reasonably well,” Farhood said. “He shined in the first half of the fight, decelerated a bit in the second half, but going the 10-round distance for the first time is a huge step for someone who had fought as few rounds as he had.”

In a non-televised bout, undefeated light heavyweight and 2012 U.S. Olympian Marcus Browne (11-0, 8 KOs) scored a first-round TKO against Donta Woods (8-3, 7 KOs) in a fight that lasted just 91 seconds. Browne was originally scheduled to oppose Yusaf Mack(31-7, 17 KOs) on the ShoBox telecast but the fight had to be canceled after Mack failed a pre-fight blood test.

Highlights of Browne’s fight against Woods were shown between rounds of the co-feature fight as Browne was interviewed by Farhood.

“We worked hard in this camp and it paid dividends,” Browne said. “I’m starting to get comfortable and starting to get in groove. I’m young in the sport of boxing and I’m here to stay for a long time.”

Erislandy Lara, who faces Canelo Alvarez on SHOWTIME PPV^® on Saturday, July 12, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, was interviewed before the main event to talk about the biggest fight of his career and the influence that social media had on making the showdown a reality.

“I’ve never been in a big fight like this, but thank God I’m able to control myself and deal with the cameras and the press and everything that comes with it,” Lara said. “I used social media to challenge him. I knew the fans and the press would respond to that and that’s how I got the fight.

“Supposedly they say he’s the best at 154 pounds, but I think I’m the best. I think it’s a good thing that the best are fighting the best.”

As ShoBox approaches its landmark 200^th telecast next month, former IBF light middleweight champion, Ishe Smith, who appeared on the series five times, was interviewed by Farhood and asked about the impact ShoBox has had on his career.

“This series means everything to my career,” Smith said. “I started in 2002 and it’s just been a blessing to main event ShoBox four times. I went 4-1 on the series and watching Errol Spence take on a tough fighter this early in his career reminds me of when I foughtDavid Estrada when I only had 11 or 12 fights.”

Friday’s fights will replay on Tuesday, July 1 at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME and will be available on SHOWTIME ANYTIME and On Demand through July 25.

Barry Tompkins called the ShoBox action from ringside withFarhood and former World Champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer wasGordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.

REDKACH GRINDS OUT UGLY WIN

OVER GULYAKEVICH

KIELCZWESKI IMPROVES TO 20-0

WITH GRUELING UNANIMOUS DECISION VICTORY

OVER LUNA

St. Charles, MO (6/28/14) – Earlier tonight at the beautiful Ameristar Casino Resort and Spa in St. Charles, MO, world-rated lightweight contender (IBF #8/WBC #9) Ivan Redkach improved his record to a perfect 17-0, 13KO’s, with an ugly 10-round unanimous decision over former title challenger Sergey Gulyakevich (41-3, 17KO’s).

Redkach, who is widely considered to be one of the most promising young fighters in all of boxing, was forced to go the distance for the second consecutive bout as Gulyakevich seemed to be more content on holding and tying Redkach up rather than looking to engage.

The southpaw Redkach pressed the action throughout and scored with hard body shots in the early going, which visibly bothered Gulyakevich. Redkach suffered a right elbow contusion in the third frame, which limited him being able to throw his right hand, and later in the fight, he hurt his left hand.

Redkach fought through both injuries and the excessive holding by Gulyakevich to ultimately win the 10-round unanimous decision with scores of 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92.

In the co-feature bout of the evening, WBA #11-rated super featherweight Ryan Kielczweski moved to 20-0 with an exciting and grueling eight-round unanimous decision over previously once-beaten Ramsey Luna.

The opening stanza was a bit of a feeling-out round, but things started to really heat up in the second. Kielczweski began digging in some vicious body punches with both hands. The hard-charging Luna looked to push Kielczweski to the ropes and score with flurries.

There was great two-way action from both in the middle rounds with Kielczweski getting the better of the exchanges and landing the more telling blows.

The sixth, seventh and eighth rounds were absolute wars, with both guys going toe-to-toe for nearly every second of each round, sending the packed house into a frenzy.

In the end, Kielczweski was awarded the well-deserved unanimous decision, winning by scores of 79-73, 78-74, and 78-74.

In the opening bout of the night, hometown favorite Stephon Young won an exciting six-round unanimous decision over tough-as-nails Vincente Alfaro, winning by scores of 60-54, 60-56, 59-55. With the win Young improved to 10-0, 4KO’s while Alfaro dropped to 6-4, 1KO.

In off-tv bouts, DiBella Entertainment’s three middleweights Ivan Golub, Eduardo Alicea and Paul Littleton all notched victories in separate bouts. Alicea, who is co-promoted by Rumble Time Promotions, improved to 7-0, 3KO’s with a dominate six-round decision over Demetrius Walker. The highly touted Ukrainian Golub won a four-round unanimous decision over JaVon Wright in what was advertised as Golub’s pro-debut. Golub competed in the World Series of Boxing, winning five consecutive bouts, so officially his record now stands at 6-0. In the opening bout of the night, Littleton stopped Jeff Combs in the fourth round of their scheduled six-rounder to improve to 9-0-1, 5KO’s.

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