Fast Results from Fresno: Herring and Pulev Prevail on a Lackluster Show

It’s Veterans Day weekend in the United States which made Jamel Herring the perfect fit for tonight’s Top Rank boxing card in Fresno. Herring, a 34-year-old, Long Island-raised  father of six, is a former Marine Sergeant who served two terms of duty in Iraq.

Tonight the ex-Marine (pictured on the right) was making the first defense of the WBO 130-pound title he won with a unanimous decision over Masayuki Ito in May. He was matched against Lamont Roach, a fighter from the D.C. area. Neither is a big puncher and bout, to no surprise, was a tactical fight devoid of fireworks save for a moment in round 11 when Roach, the younger man by 10 years, hurt the defending champ with a combination.  But Roach’s late rally was too little, too late as Herring had built up a comfortable lead.

The judges returned Herring (21-2) the victor by unanimous decision: 115-113 and 117-111 twice. It was the first pro loss for Roach (19-1-1)

Co-Feature

In a dull 10-round fight between 38-year-old heavyweights, Kubrat Pulev (28-1, 14 KOs) won his ninth straight with a unanimous decision over Rydell Booker (26-3). The scores were 99-91 and 98-92 twice.

The flab around Booker’s mid-section at the weigh-in bore evidence that he was poorly conditioned, no surprise considering that he lost the best years of his career to a lengthy prison term. Booker fought a survivor’s fight, spending much of the match with his back against the ropes. It was the eighth straight win for Bulgaria’s Pulev who is ranked #1 by the IBF and in line to fight the winner of the rematch between Anthony Joshua and Andy Ruiz Jr.

Other Fights

In an 8-round lightweight contest, Gabriel Flores Jr. (16-0, 6 KOs) “pitched a shutout” over Brazilian journeyman Aelio Mesquita (19-5) who lost for the fifth time in his last eight outings. The 19-year-old Flores brought a large delegation of fans from Stockton, but failed the deliver the knockout over an opponent whose four previous losses had all come inside the distance.

Janibek Alimkhanuly, fighting out of Oxnard, California by way of Kazakhstan, improved to 8-0 (4) with a sixth-round stoppage of Albert Onolunose (25-3-1), a 39-year-old Canadian by way of Nigeria. Alimkhanuly was comfortably ahead when he decked Onolunose with a left hook in round six. Onolunose beat the count, but offered little resistance when Alimhanuly resumed his attack and the referee stopped it. A 26-year-old southpaw, Janibek Alimhanuly is managed by Egis Klimas and trained by Buddy McGirt.

Amir Imam (22-2, 19 KOs) returned to the ring as a welterweight after a 21-month hiatus to score a fourth-round stoppage of Nicaragua’s Marcos Mojica (16-5-2). It was Imam’s first start for Top Rank after escaping the clutches of Don King. In his previous fight, the Albany, NY product lost a 12-round decision to Jose Carlos Ramirez at Madison Square Garden.

Middleweight Esquiva Falcao 25-0 (17 KOs), a 2012 Olympic silver medalist for Brazil, stopped Floridian Manny Woods (16-9-1) in the third round.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams for Top Rank

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