Friday Boxing Recaps: A Smashing Knockout at Buffalo Run; a Shocker in Florida.

On Friday night, local fan favorite Trey Lippe Morrison stole the show at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, Oklahoma, with a smashing first round knockout of previously undefeated Ed Latimore. Lippe Morrison decked Latimore twice before the referee intervened. Latimore was willing to trade but outgunned in a contest that consumed only 139 seconds.

Latimore, from Pittsburgh, was 13-0 heading in and represented a step up in class for Lippe Morrison who has won all 12 of his fights by knockout, nine in the opening round. After the bout, which was his first TV fight, the son of the late Tommy Morrison said “I think I did alright” and was effusive in his praise of his trainer, the remarkable Freddie Roach.

Trey Lippe Morrison is managed by Tony Holden, who also handled the affairs of his late father and was something of a big brother to the trouble-plagued fighter. The veteran Tulsa-based promoter was off the grid until Trey Lippe and his half-brother McKenzie Witt Morrison came along. This is a true-life story that appears to have come straight from Hollywood.

In the main event, Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic scored a fifth round knockout over Travis Peterkin in a light heavyweight contest scheduled for 10 rounds. Kalajdzic, from St. Petersburg, Florida by way of Bosnia, decked Peterkin twice in the fifth round, the second knockdown of such severity that the referee waved the contest off without a count. Kalajdzic advanced his record to 22-1 (14). It was a sobering experience for Brooklyn’s Peterkin (16-1-1) who suffered his first professional loss.

Two Eastern European fighters now based in Brooklyn kept their unbeaten records intact in the other TV bouts. Super lightweight Ivan Baranchyk, from Belarus, improved to 12-0 with a 10-round decision over Wang Zhimin. Baranchyk won by lopsided scores (100-90 and 99-91 twice) but the tallies were misleading as many of the rounds were close. Victorious by knockout in 10 of his previous 11 fights, Baranchyk hadn’t previously gone more than four rounds. Golub (13-0, 11 KOs), a Ukrainian, stopped Baltimore’s James Stevenson in the third frame.

In one of the off-TV matches, the aforementioned James McKenzie Morrison was held to a draw in a 6-round heavyweight contest with 35-year-old Aaron Chavers, a fellow Oklahoman. Ten months younger than his sibling, James McKenzie Morrison (9-0-2) remains undefeated, but his upside appears limited.

KISSIMMEE

There was a shocker in the main event of the Top Rank show at the Silver Spurs Arena at the Osceola Heritage Park in Kissimmee, Florida. Filipino super featherweight Jhon Gemino, who brought a 14-7-1 record and had lost four of his last six, blasted out previously undefeated (19-0 going in) Toka Khan Clary with a vicious right hook in the opening round. Clary, the Liberian southpaw who fights out of Peter Manfredo’s gym in Providence, Rhode Island, failed to beat the count.

Two other undefeated prospects were more fortunate. Featherweight Christopher Diaz and welterweight Julian Rodriguez continued their winning ways with unanimous 8-round decisions over their respective opponents.

SANTO DOMINGO

In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Javier Fortuna (30-1-1, 22 KOs) rebounded from his misadventure in Beijing vs. unheralded Jason Sosa with a second round stoppage of Marlyn Cabrera.

Fortuna was the victim of a huge upset when he was stopped by Sosa in the 11^th round in what was the second defense of his WBA 130-pound title. In that contest, Fortuna was comfortably ahead on the scorecards when he ran into a scorching left hook in round10. He survived the round, but never fully recovered and was easy meat for Sosa in the next frame. Marlyn Cabrera (22-0) hadn’t previously tasted defeat at the professional level but was out of his league against the former champion on Friday.