Trevor Bryan Stops Bermane Stiverne in the 11th at the Seminole Hard Rock

Trevor Bryan is the newest WBA heavyweight champion of the world (insert your own punchline here). Tonight at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida, Bryan won the vacant belt with an 11^th-round stoppage of Bermane Stiverne. Bryan vs. Stiverne was the main event of a truncated three-bout PPV ($19.95) card, a Don King production flayed in many pre-fight stories as a pile of horse manure.

The 31-year-old Bryan, from Schenectady, New York, improved his record to 21-0 with his 15^th win inside the distance. Heading in, he had defeated only eight fighters with winning records and was making his first start in 29 months. Stiverne, who turned 42 in November, was making his fourth appearance in the last six years. He briefly held the WBC version of the world title, a diadem he won at the expense of Chris Arreola and lost in his first defense in his first fight with Deontay Wilder in 2015.

The match was even-steven on the scales. Bryan weighed in at 267 ½. His previous career high was 248 for an opponent with a 2-24 record. Stiverne came in at 267 ¼, six pounds less than he carried for his last fight with Joe Joyce 11 months ago, but 28 pounds more than he carried for his first encounter with Wilder.

Stiverne had his moments in the fight but his punch output declined as the fight wore on. In the 11^th, Bryan put him down twice with right hands. Stiverne beat the count after each knockdown, but Bryan finished him off with a barrage of punches that led the referee to waive it off. The official time was 1:26.

It was the third straight loss by stoppage for Stiverne, the Las Vegas-based Haitian, whose record fell to 25-5-1.

The WBA agreed to sanction this match as a title fight with the stipulation that the winner must defend the belt against Manuel Charr within 120 days. Charr has been down this road before. The Lebanon-born Charr, a resident of Germany, last fought on Nov. 25, 2017.

Undercard

In a 6-round cruiserweight match, Sarasota, Florida southpaw Johnnie Langston rebounded from his loss to hot heavyweight prospect Jared Anderson with a unanimous decision over DeShon Webster.

The 31-year-old Langston, who started his pro career in 2018 after purportedly serving 10 years for an armed home invasion, improved 9-3. Webster, who fights out of Kansas City, Kansas, falls to 12-4-3. The scores were 60-54 and 59-55 twice.

In a 4-round bantamweight contest, 24-year-old Cuban import Joahnys Argilagos was extended the distance by 39-year-old Colorado campaigner Ernie Marquez. A 2016 Olympic bronze medalist whose extensive amateur background included an 11-7 mark in the World Series of Boxing, Argilagos figured to blow right through Marquez who had lost nine of his last 11 fights and been stopped eight times during his career. But the Cuban was extended the distance while advancing his record to 6-0. Marquez declined to 10-16-2.

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