Results from the Big Apple: Hunter Bombs Out Wilson; Algieri Wins Too

Results from the Big Apple: Hunter Bombs Out Wilson; Algieri Wins Too

TrillerVerz Fight Club, the new name for Triller, was at the Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden tonight for what ostensibly was the first installment of a regular monthly series. A Lou DiBella-promoted boxing card was the appetizer for a battle-of-the-bands-type showdown between local rap groups The Lox and Dipsit, legendary groups according to the promotional material colliding in an iconic confrontation.

The first batch of tickets put on sale were reportedly gone in 15 minutes. The gate was reportedly the highest in the 53-year history of the room. But empty seats were visible during the boxing portion of the telecast informing us that the rap battle was the allurement.

The main event was a 10-round heavyweight contest between Michael “The Bounty” Hunter, son of the late heavyweight fringe contender of the same name, and Mike “White Delight” Wilson, the pride of Central Oregon. They were originally slated to fight on June 19 in Miami on the undercard of Teofimo Lopez’’s mandatory title defense against George Kambobos Jr, but that card fell out when Lopez tested positive for Covid-19.

This was a rematch of sorts. They had met 14 years ago in the finals of an Olympic qualifying tournament and Hunter won a narrow decision. There was nothing narrow about tonight’s fight. Hunter was dominant from the get-go and blasted Wilson out in the fourth round.

It didn’t bode well for Wilson that he weighed a career-high 224 ¼. The 38-year-old Oregonian was soft in the belly and Hunter landed some hard shots there in the first two rounds. In Round Four, he snapped Wilson’s head back with a harsh uppercut and followed up with a short overhand right. Wilson went down hard and when he arose, leaking blood from several facial cuts, referee Ricky Gonzalez rightly waived it off.

Hunter, 33, improved to 20-1-1 (14). He has expressed interest in meeting Dillian Whyte, but it appears more likely that his next opponent will be Trevor Bryan who has a seat at the table at the WBA heavyweight title buffet. Wilson, who hadn’t previously been stopped, falls to 21-2.

P.S. – The sojourn back east worked out well for Las Vegas gym operator Bones Adams, the former WBA super bantamweight champion. Adams worked Jonnie Rice’s corner on Saturday night in Newark. With Michael Hunter in attendance, Rice turned his floundering career around with a smashing upset of Michael Coffie. Tonight, Adams was the primary advice-giver in Hunter’s corner.

Algieri – Les Pierre

In the chief undercard bout, Chris Algieri returned to the ring after an absence of more than two years and showed well in a 10-round welterweight contest with Brooklyn’s Mikkel Les Pierre. At age 37, Algieri, the Stony Brook University grad and former 140-pound world title-holder, was superbly conditioned. He was credited with throwing 910 punches, out-landing his 36-year-old opponent while winning a wide decision: 99-91 and 100-90 twice. Algieri had Les Pierre almost out in the eighth round when he threw the kitchen sink at his adversary. But he lacked the power to finish the job.

Now 25-3 (9), Algieri believes that he can once again be a force. That’s doubtful. He just doesn’t punch hard enough. But based on tonight’s showing, he earned the right to meet a more formidable opponent. Les Pierre, who is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, fell to 22-3-1.

Also

In off-TV bouts, welterweight Ivan Golub, a 32-year-old Brooklyn-based Ukrainian, improved to 19-1 with a wide 10-round decision over hard-trying Louisiana native Eric Walker (20-4) and light heavyweight Joe Ward, a highly decorated amateur from Moate, Ireland, won his fourth straight after a fluke loss in his pro debut with a 6-round decision over Louisiana’s Tory Williams (5-1-1). Ward won every round on all three cards.

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