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Boxing Odds and Ends: Two Breakout Fighters and a Back-Slider

Boxing Odds and Ends: Two Breakout Fighters and a Back-Slider
Two local boxers – Charles Conwell and Montana Love – bolstered Sunday’s fight card in Cleveland that showcased YouTube star Jake Paul. Conwell, a 2016 U.S. Olympian, won as expected, dispatching Juan Carlos Rubio in the third round. Montana Love (pictured) stepped up in class and increased his profile 100-fold by stopping Russian tough guy Ivan Baranchyk whose corner pulled him out after seven rounds.
Baranchyk was a former IBF 140-pound world title-holder with a strong amateur pedigree. He had taken Josh Taylor the distance on Taylor’s turf in Glasgow in a semifinal match-up in the World Boxing Super Series. He was a 17/10 favorite over Love who was appearing in his first 10-round fight and the betting – in terms of tickets written – was heavily skewed in Baranchyk’s favor.
Love vs. Baranchyk was the most entertaining fight on the card. Baranchyk had the best of the early-going, but it was Love’s fight from the fourth round on. Late in the seventh, he put Baranchyk down hard with a vicious left uppercut. Baranchyk made it to his feet as the bell sounded, but his handlers wouldn’t let him continue.
A 26-year-old father of three, Love was raised by a single mother in one of the toughest sections of Cleveland. He’s had a lot of adversity in his life. Love was three years old when his father died and he lost his mother to colon cancer when she was thirty-eight. In 2015, as his career was just getting started, he was remanded to prison and served 16 months on theft- and drug-related charges.
Love has fought as high as 150 pounds, but going forward he plans to compete as a junior welterweight. The top guns in the division are the aforementioned Taylor and Gervonta Davis. Love, who improved to 16-0-1 (8), called them both out in his post-fight interview. He’s not quite ready for that level of competition but he punched his way into the conversation.
Andres Cortes
Twenty-four-year-old North Las Vegas native Andres Cortes won two out of three from Teofimo Lopez as an amateur. He brought a 14-0 (7) record into his Aug. 14 date in Tulsa with Genesis Servania. They fought on the undercard of the show anchored by the third meeting between Joshua Franco and Andrew Moloney.
Cortes was expected to beat Servania, but the assumption was that it wouldn’t be easy. After all, the Filipino was 34-2, had never been stopped, and was a former world title challenger. His only losses had come at the hands of Oscar Valdez, arguably the best 130-pound boxer in the world, and Carlos Castro, currently 27-0.
Cortes not only became the first man to stop Servania, but needed only one round to do it. A right hand to the ear knocked Servania sideways and then a sweeping left hook finished the job, knocking him to the canvas where he lay with his upper torso splayed under the ropes. Referee Jack Reiss started his count but discontinued it. There was no reason for him to keep counting; Servania’s goose was cooked.
Cortes, who improved to 15-0 (8), was making his third start for Top Rank after signing with Floyd Mayweather’s Money Team coming out of the amateur ranks. He can fight at 130 or 135 which gives him a lot of options going forward. It’s a fair guess that his next appearance will come on Dec. 11 at Madison Square Garden underneath Vasyl Lomachencko vs. Richard Commey. One or both of those guys could be in Cortes’s future.
Trey Lippe Morrison, the Back-Slider
Trey Lippe Morrison also appeared on Top Rank’s Aug. 14 card, but his match with Don Haynesworth wasn’t televised. True, with Muhammad Ali’s grandson making his pro debut, the TV portion of the show didn’t need more sizzle, but one suspects that Morrison was tucked away in the shadows because of the fear that he wouldn’t look good and erode his marketability. As the son of the late Tommy “The Duke” Morrison, with whom he bears a strong physical resemblance, Trey Lippe had the requisite boxing backstory to be a big seller even if he lacked his father’s trademark left hook.
Morrison won all six rounds of his match with Haynesworth, but was underwhelming. He took some hard shots noted reporter Keith Idec and the scorecards were misleading. The right guy won, yes, but in a fight that was anything but a stroll in the park.
Don Haynesworth is a blubbery 38-year-old journeyman. He was fodder for Guido Vianello who blew right through him in less than one full round in June of last year. That Morrison couldn’t put him away after opening his career with 17 wins by stoppage suggests that his career has plateaued.
Injuries have hampered his development. He missed all of 2017 and all of 2020. However, as we wrote on these pages 25 months ago, it was past time for his manager Tony Holden to crank up the level of competition. We didn’t suggest throwing him in against a ranked opponent, but there were better journeymen out there than what he was feasting on.
Tommy “The Duke” Morrison was 24 years old when he holstered his fearsome left hook and ran rings around George Foreman to win a version of the world heavyweight title. Trey Lippe Morrison is now 31. He’s still undefeated, but the sport is passing him by.
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Mercito Gesta Victorious Over Jojo Diaz at the Long Beach Pyramid

LONG BEACH, CA.-Those in the know knew Mercito Gesta and Jojo Diaz would be a fight to watch and they delivered.
Gesta emerged the winner in a super lightweight clash between southpaws that saw the judges favor his busier style over Diaz’s body attack and bigger shots and win by split decision on Saturday.
Despite losing the main event because the star was overweight, Gesta (34-3-3, 17 KOs) used an outside method of tactic to edge past former world champion Diaz (32-4-1, 15 KOs) in front of more than 5,000 fans at the Pyramid.
The speedy Gesta opened up the fight with combination punching up and down against the peek-a-boo style of Diaz. For the first two rounds the San Diego fighter overwhelmed Diaz though none of the blows were impactful.
In the third round Diaz finally began unloading his own combinations and displaying the fast hands that helped him win world titles in two divisions. Gesta seemed stunned by the blows, but his chin held up. The counter right hook was Diaz’s best weapon and snapped Gesta’s head back several times.
Gesta regained control in the fifth round after absorbing big blows from Diaz. He seemed to get angry that he was hurt and opened up with even more blows to send Diaz backpedaling.
Diaz targeted his attack to Gesta’s body and that seemed to slow down Gesta. But only for a round.
From the seventh until the 10th each fighter tried to impose their style with Gesta opening up with fast flurries and Diaz using right hooks to connect with solid shots. They continued their method of attack until the final bell. All that mattered was what the judges preferred.
After 10 rounds one judge saw Diaz the winner 97-93 but two others saw Gesta the winner 99-91, 98-92. It was a close and interesting fight.
“I was expecting nothing. I was the victor in this fight and we gave a good fight,” said Gesta. “It’s not an easy fight and Jojo gave his best.”
Diaz was surprised by the outcome but accepted the verdict.
Everything was going good. I thought I was landing good body shots,” said Diaz. “I was pretty comfortable.”
Other Bouts
Mexico’s Oscar Duarte (25-1-1, 20 KOs) knocked out Chicago’s Alex Martin (18-5, 6 KOs) with a counter right hand after dropping him earlier in the fourth round. The super lightweight fight was stopped at 1:14 of the round.
A battle between undefeated super welterweights saw Florida’s Eric Tudor (8-0, 6 KOs) emerge the winner by unanimous decision after eight rounds versus Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain.
The taller Tudor showed polished skill and was not bothered by a large cut on his forehead caused by an accidental clash of heads. He used his jab and lead rights to defuse the attacks of the quick-fisted southpaw Cato-Cain. The judges scored the fight 80-72 and 78-74 twice for Tudor.
San Diego’s Jorge Chavez (5-0, 4 KOs) needed less than one round to figure out Nicaragua’s Bryan Perez (12-17-1, 11 KOs) and send him into dreamland with a three-punch combination. No need to count as referee Ray Corona waved the fight over. Perez shot a vicious right followed by another right and then a see-you-later left hook at 3.00 of the first round of the super featherweight match.
Photo credit: Al Applerose
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Jojo Diaz’s Slump Continues; Mercito Gesta Prevails on a Split Decision

At age 30, Jojo Diaz’s career is on the skids. The 2012 U.S. Olympian, a former world title holder at 126 and 130 pounds and an interim title holder at 135, Diaz suffered his third straight loss tonight, upset by Mercito Gesta who won a split decision at the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, CA.. The scoring was strange with Gesta winning nine of the 10 rounds on one of the cards and only three rounds on another. The tie-breaker, as it were, was a 98-92 tally for Gesta and even that didn’t capture the flavor of what was a closely-contested fight.
Originally listed as a 12-rounder, the match was reduced to 10 and that, it turned out, did Diaz no favors. However, it’s hard to feel sorry for the former Olympian as he came in overweight once again, having lost his 130-pound title on the scales in February of 2021.
Diaz also has issues outside the ropes. Best elucidated by prominent boxing writer Jake Donovan, they include a cluster of legal problems stemming from an arrest for drunk driving on Feb. 27 in the LA suburb of Claremont.
With the defeat, Diaz’s ledger declined to 32-4-1. His prior losses came at the hands of Gary Russell Jr, Devin Haney, and William Zepeda, boxers who are collectively 83-2. Mercito Gesta, a 35-year-old San Diego-based Filipino, improved to 34-3-3.
Co-Feature
Chihuahua, Mexico super lightweight Oscar Duarte has now won nine straight inside the distance after stopping 33-year-old Chicago southpaw Alex Martin in the eighth frame. Duarte, the busier fighter, had Martin on the deck twice in round eight before the fight was waived off.
Duarte improved to 25-1-1 (20). Martin, who reportedly won six national titles as an amateur and was once looked upon as a promising prospect, declined to 18-5.
Other Bouts of Note
New Golden Boy signee Eric Tudor, a 21-year-old super welterweight from Fort Lauderdale, overcame a bad laceration over his right eye, the result of an accidental clash of heads in round four, to stay unbeaten, advancing to 8-0 (6) with a hard-fought unanimous 8-round decision over Oakland’s Damoni Cato-Cain. The judges had it 80-72 and 78-74 twice. It was the first pro loss for Cato-Cain (7-1-1) who had his first five fights in Tijuana.
In the DAZN opener, lanky Hawaian lightweight Dalis Kaleiopu went the distance for the first time in his young career, improving to 4-0 (3) with a unanimous decision over 36-year-old Colombian trial horse Jonathan Perez (40-35). The scores were 60-52 across the board. There were no knockdowns, but Perez, who gave up almost six inches in height, had a point deducted for a rabbit punch and another point for deducted for holding.
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‘Big Baby’ Wins the Battle of Behemoths; TKOs ‘Big Daddy’ in 6

Lucas “Big Daddy” Browne weighed in at a career-high 277 pounds for today’s battle in Dubai with Jarrell “Big Baby” Miller, but he was the lighter man by 56 pounds. It figured that one or both would gas out if the bout lasted more than a few stanzas.
It was a war of attrition with both men looking exhausted at times, and when the end came it was Miller, at age 34 the younger man by nine years, who had his hand raised.
Browne was the busier man, but Miller, whose physique invites comparison with a rhinoceros, hardly blinked as he was tattooed with an assortment of punches. He hurt ‘Bid Daddy’ in round four, but the Aussie held his own in the next frame, perhaps even forging ahead on the cards, but only postponing the inevitable.
In round six, a succession of right hands knocked Browne on the seat of his pants. He beat the count, but another barrage from Miller impelled the referee to intervene. The official time was 2:33. It was the 21st straight win for Miller (26-0-1, 22 KOs). Browne declined to 31-4 and, for his own sake, ought not fight again. All four of his losses have come inside the distance, some brutally.
The consensus of those that caught the livestream was that Floyd Mayweather Jr’s commentary was an annoying distraction that marred what was otherwise an entertaining show.
As for what’s next for “Big Baby” Miller, that’s hard to decipher as he has burned his bridges with the sport’s most powerful promoters. One possibility is Mahmoud Charr who, like Miller, has a big gap in his boxing timeline. Now 38 years old, Charr – who has a tenuous claim on a WBA world title (don’t we all?) — has reportedly taken up residence in Dubai.
Other Bouts of Note
In a 10-round cruiserweight affair, Suslan Asbarov, a 30-year-old Russian, advanced to 4-0 (1) with a hard-fought majority decision over Brandon Glanton. The judges had it 98-92, 97-93, and a more reasonable 95-95.
Asbarov was 12-9 in documented amateur fights and 1-0 in a sanctioned bare-knuckle fight, all in Moscow, entering this match. He bears watching, however, as Glanton (18-2) would be a tough out for almost anyone in his weight class. In his previous fight, at Plant City, Florida, Glanton lost a controversial decision to David Light, an undefeated Australian who challenges WBO world title-holder Lawrence Okolie at Manchester, England next week.
A 10-round super featherweight match between former world title challengers Jono Carroll and Miguel Marriaga preceded the semi-windup. Carroll, a 30-year-old Dublin southpaw, overcame a cut over his left eye suffered in the second round to win a wide unanimous decision in a fairly entertaining fight.
It was the sixth straight win for Carroll (24-2-1, 7 KOs) who elevated his game after serving as a sparring partner for Devin Haney. Marriaga, a 36-year-old Colombian, lost for the fourth time in his last five outings, declining to 30-7.
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