Fast Results from Rhode Island: Andrade and Parker Win Wire-to-Wire

Tonight’s show in Providence, Rhode Island, promoted by Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Sports, had a strong international flavor. A Pole, a Dominican, a New Zealander, an Aussie, a Canadian, a Mexican, a Haitian, and a Brit of Yemeni extraction were on display, not to mention five local area products, most conspicuously the headliner, WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade, who was making his first appearance as a pro in the city where he was born and raised.

A 31-year-old southpaw appearing in his seventh world title fight, Andrade came out like gangbusters, dropping Sulecki in the opening round as the crowd went wild. But from that point on, Andrade reverted to his established form, out-boxing Sulecki who could simply not match Andrade’s speed and quickness. In the end, all three judges had it 120-107.

Some would see the glass as half full, a virtuoso performance by Andrade, now 28-0, against a capable challenger who had lost only once in his previous 29 bouts. Others would see the glass as half empty, meaning another uninspired performance by a slick southpaw content to demonstrate his ring artistry. You make the call.

Parker-Leapai

In an all-Antipodean affair, an odd pairing considering the locale, former WBO heavyweight champ Joseph Parker, the only man to defeat Andy Ruiz, dominated Alex Leapai en route to a 10th-round stoppage. The 39-year-old Leapai, who came in at a puffy 254 1/2 pounds, had an offense that consisted solely of trying to hit a home run, but his haymakers caught only air. To his credit, he refused to fold despite absorbing a terrific amount of punishment, but the referee finally had seen enough and waved the bout off in the final minute of the 10-round fight.

Parker (26-2, 20 KOs) was making his first start under the Matchroom umbrella. Leapai declined to 32-8-4.

Yafai-Jimenez

In what was ostensibly the co-feature (but preceded the Parker-Leapai fight), Khalid Yafai (26-0, 15 KOs) successfully defended his WBA 115-title with a unanimous decision over Norbelto Jimenez. Yafai, a 2008 Olympian from Birmingham, England, was making the fifth defense of the title he won with a lopsided decision over Panama’s Luis Concepcion.

Strange but true, although Jimenez entered the contest with a record of 29-8-4, he was undefeated in his last 31 fights! Yafai saddled him with his first defeat since 2011, knocking Jimenez down in the final round (it was actually more of a push) to seal the victory, not that there was any doubt. The scores were 119-107, 118-108, and 117-109. Earlier in the fight, Jimenez had a point deducted for holding.

Other Bouts

In a good action fight, fan favorite Mark DeLuca, a middleweight from Whitman, MA, improved to 24-1 with a 10-round unanimous decision over previously undefeated Brandon Brewer (23-1-1. DeLuca, an ex-Marine who served as a machine gunner in Afghanistan, won by scores of 99-91, 98-92, and 97-93, but had to dig deep against the spunky 34-year-old Brewer, a Canadian from the province of New Brunswick. The final round was lusty and the crowd accorded both fighters a standing ovation at the final gun.

Otha Jones III, a highly-regarded, 19-year-old prospect, from Toledo, Ohio, won every round on all three scorecards in his 6-round lightweight match with Argentina’s Matias Arriagada, but yet wasn’t all that impressive. Jones (3-0) fought eight days ago in London. It was the fourth straight loss for Arriagada (6-5).

Raymond Ford, a 20-year-old southpaw from Camden, New Jersey, scored the first knockout of his young career with a first round stoppage of Isidro Figueroa. A 2018 National Golden Gloves champion, Ford (3-0) ended the contest with a body punch.

Alexis Espino, a 19-year-old super middleweight from Las Vegas, advanced to 3-0 at the expense of Kerby Saint-Juste who was knocked down three times before the match was stopped in the second round.

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