Surprises, Surprises on a Heavyweight-Heavy Triller Show in New York

Triller Fight Club camped out at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom tonight while its partner “Verz” was on the opposite coast at the Hollywood Palladium orchestrating the rap battle with which the boxing card was bundled. Those that purchased the event on streaming platforms such as FITE got to ingest both pieces if so inclined.

All of the fights on the 5-bout card in New York yielded an unexpected result. In the main go, Michael “The Bounty” Hunter was held to a draw by Jerry Forrest. Hunter (20-1-2) had been looking sensational in the gym, but apparently left his fight in the gym because he never found his rhythm against Forrest (26-4-2) who fights out of Newport News, VA.

Earlier this year, the IBF ordered Hunter to fight Filip Hrgovic in an “eliminator.” Matchroom won the purse bid and offered Hunter what would have been the biggest purse of his career, but he spurned it, opting instead for stay-busy fights with the likes of Shawn Laughery and Mike Wilson and theoretically Forrest who he had previously defeated, winning a lopsided 8-round decision back in 2014. Hunter was paid well for his last three fights, but after tonight’s showing lost leverage in future negotiations.

The judges had it 96-94, 94-96, and 95-95. It was the second straight draw for Forrest who overcame three early knockdowns to garner a draw against Zhilei Zhang this past February in Miami. Zhang was in attendance tonight.

Other Bouts

In another 10-rounder, George Arias kept his undefeated record intact, improving to 17-0 with a split decision over previously undefeated Cassius Chaney (21-1). A local fighter from the Bronx (via the Dominican Republic) Arias was at a significant height disadvantage vs. the six-foot-six Chaney, a former all-conference basketball player at D-II University of New Haven (CT).

The scores were all over the board with one judge favoring Arias 99-91 and another favoring Chaney 96-94. The third judge had it 97-93 for Arias which was more in line with what TV viewers saw. Chaney, who is promoted by Kathy Duva, simply wasn’t busy enough to merit the decision.

In another crossroads fight between undefeated heavies, 38-year-old Mike Balogun exposed Trey Lippe Morrison, knocking Lippe Morrison out in the very first round. It was a rout from the get-go. Morrison had been on the deck twice and was eating leather on unsteady legs when the referee called a halt. The official time was 2:41.

Once considered a serious prospect, Lippe Morrison, the son of the late Tommy “The Duke” Morrison, was 18-0 heading in and had knocked out his first 17 opponents. However, he was underwhelming in his last fight against blubbery trial horse Don Haynesworth, so tonight’s Waterloo was no great surprise.

Balogun, who improved to 18-0 (14) is a former Oklahoma linebacker who bounced around the NFL between 2010 and 2012, appearing in several regular season games with the Redskins and Buffalo Bills.

In a scheduled 6-rounder between beefed-up ex-cruiserweights, Jersey City’s Joe Jones, who had lost three of his previous four, resurrected his flagging career with a second-round stoppage of Junior Anthony Wright (18-4-1)

Jones (13-4, 10 KOs) knocked Wright down with a straight right hand in the waning seconds of the opening stanza and Wright never fully recovered. Seconds into round two, a left-right combination sent Wright to the canvas again and the referee had seen enough. The official time was 13 seconds of round two.

The 35-year-old Wright, who hails from Evanston, Illinois, weighed a career-high 232 ¾. Wright was supposed to fight Andrey Fedesov in the main event, but Fedesov, who is enjoying a late career surge, suffered an injury in training and had to pull out.

Even the lone non-heavyweight bout produced an unexpected outcome. Philadelphia’s Khainell Wheeler, 5-1 heading in, won a unanimous 6-round decision over Frederic Julan, saddling the Brooklyn-based Parisian, now 12-1, with his first pro loss.

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