Fast Results from Oxon Hill: Teofimo Wins but Without Panache

Fast Results from Oxon Hill: Teofimo Wins but Without Panache

Heading into tonight’s contest with lanky Japanese invader Masayoshi Nakatani, 21-year-old lightweight sensation Teofimo Lopez had never been extended beyond the seventh round. Tonight he went the full 12 and although Teofimo won comfortably on the scorecards (119-109, 118-110 twice) one could say that he actually took a step backward, if only because he had set the bar so high. True, Lopez won lopsidedly, but many of the rounds were close and the fight had no indelible moments.

With the victory, Lopez (14-0, 11 KOs) becomes next in line to meet IBF 135-pound title-holder Richard Commey. Osaka’s Nakatani, who had previously fought exclusively in Japan, suffered his first loss, falling to 18-1.

Co-Feature

In what has to be considered an upset, Puerto Rican junior welterweight Subriel Matias stayed unbeaten at the expense of previously unbeaten Maxim Dadashev whose trainer Buddy McGirt pulled him out after the 11^th round. It was a coming out party for Matias (14-0, 14 KOs) who took command in the middle rounds and wore Dadashev (13-1) down with body punches.

A stablemate of Vasiliy Lomachenko, Dadashev was reportedly 281-20 as an amateur and came into this bout having won nine of his last 10 inside the distance. Matias had knocked out all 13 of his previous opponents, but was making only his second start on U.S. soil. His punches landed with more effect than those of Dadashev and he was comfortably ahead at the time of the stoppage.

Dadashev began vomiting violently as he was being led back to his dressing room and was put on a stretcher and taken to a hospital for observation.

Other Bouts

In an 8-round middleweight contest, fan favorite Dusty Hernandez Harrison improved to 33-0-1 (18 KOs) with a seventh-round stoppage over Columbia’s Juan De Angel (21-12-1). Hernandez Harrison knocked De Angel to his knees with a three-punch combination and De Angel spit out his mouthpiece as he rose from the canvas, a sign of surrender that compelled the referee to waive it off.

Hernandez Harrison, who turned pro at age 17 in Mississippi, was once hailed as the best prospect to come out of the Washington DC area since Sugar Ray Leonard. He was fed a softie tonight in his third fight back after missing all of 2017 and 2018 with managerial and legal problems. De Angel has now lost seven of his last eight.

In the lid-lifter, a middleweight contest slated for eight rounds, Brazilian southpaw Esquiva Falcao, a 2012 Olympic silver medalist, scored an eighth-round stoppage of Tijuana’s stubborn but out-gunned Jesus Antonio Gutierrez. Falcao (24-0, 16 KOs) appears to be on a collision course with former amateur rival Ryota Murata. Gutierrez declined to 25-4-2 (12).

Tyler Howard, a middleweight from Crossville, Tennessee, won his 18^th straight without a defeat with a workmanlike 8-round decision over 38-year-old Philadelphia trial horse Jamaal Davis (18-15-1). The scores were 78-73 and 80-72 twice.

In an 8-round lightweight contest, Toledo, Ohio’s Tyler McCreary (16-0-1) outworked Jessie Cris Rosales (22-3-1) to win a split decision. Rosales, a Filipino, has now lost three of his last four.

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