Easter Jr Defeats Shafikov To Retain his 135-pound Belt

Easter Jr vs Shafikov Duel in Ohio – The “About Billions” boxing team held court in Toledo, Ohio, on Friday night as the Premier Boxing Champions aired their latest program on Bounce TV. Ten thousand people crowded the Huntington Center to support IBF world lightweight champion Robert Easter Jr as he defended his belt against veteran Denis Shafikov.

The Toledo crowd would not be disappointed although the five-foot-five Shafikov, despite giving up six inches in height, provided Easter with his toughest test to date. Easter was comfortable engaging Shafikov in a war at times as the two men fought in close throughout the fight. Easter Jr would mark up Shafikov’s face with his long jab but Shafikov, who never stopped coming forward, would implore him to keep fighting. In the end the judges favored Easter unanimously, with Shafikov deserving more credit than the two judges who scored the bout 120-108 gave him. The other judge had it a more reasonable 116-112. Nevertheless, Shafikov falls to 0-3 in world title fights while Easter retained his belt in his second title defense.

In the 10-round co-feature, super welterweight contender Julian Williams faced Joshua Conley. Williams was making his first appearance since losing his world title bid to Jermall Charlo last December. Conley, coming off a 15-month layoff, extended Williams into the seventh round before Conley’s corner threw in the towel.

In another bout of note, Jamontay Clark won an unpopular 8-round decision over Ivan Golub in a battle of undefeated southpaws.

Easter Jr vs Shafikov Duel in Ohio

The complete results from the live event appear below.

Friday, June 30th, 2017 – Huntington Center, Toledo, Ohio

135 LBS 12 RDS: Robert Easter Jr def Denis Shafikov via UD (120-18,120-108,116-112).
160 LBS 10 RDS: Julian Williams def Joshua Conley via ref stoppage in RD 7 @0:45.
147 LBS 8 RDS: Jamontay Clark def Ivan Golub via UD (77-75,77-75,79-73)
147 LBS 6 RDS: Enver Halili def Wesley Tucker via UD (79-73,78-74,79-73)
168 LBS 4 RDS: Damar Singleton def Cory Dulaney via TKO in RD 2 @1:23.
Catch 4×2 RDS: Alycia Baumgardner def Lashanda Tabron via TKO @0:57.

Easter Jr vs Shafikov  Duel in Ohio / Check out more boxing news on video at The Boxing Channel.