Fast Results from Tulsa Where Robson Conceicao Topped Xavier Martinez

Top Rank was at the Hard Rock in Tulsa tonight with a card that aired on ESPN and ESPN+. In the main event, three-time Olympian Robson Conceicao, a gold medalist for Brazil in 2016, rebounded from his lone defeat with a lopsided 10-round decision over previously undefeated Xavier Martinez, now 17-1. The judges had it 100-90, 99-91, and 98-92 which was somewhat misleading as none of the rounds were conspicuously one-sided. In fact, Sacramento’s Martinez, who went to post a very slight favorite, landed the best punch of the fight, wobbling Conceicao with a left hook to the temple in the final seconds of round three.

Conceicao, who improved to 17-1 was looking to rebound from his first defeat which came at the hands of Oscar Valdez in September of last year. Valdez won that bout by a unanimous decision, but many thought that the Brazilian was entitled to at least a draw. In fact, ringside judge Stephen Blea, after watching the fight on tape, apologized for his 117-110 score, conceding he had a bad night.

Against Martinez, who was nine years younger, Conceicao, a junior lightweight, looked younger than his 33 years. In theory, by winning he earned a rematch with Valdez, but Valdez has purportedly committed to a unification fight with Shakur Stevenson.

Semifinal

The semi-windup was a ho-hum 8-round affair between lightweights who were initially on the card against different opponents.

Giovanni Cabrera, in his first fight for Top Rank, returned to the ring after missing all of 2020 and 2021, and out-hustled Mexico’s Rene Tellez Giron to win a unanimous decision.  The judges had it 77-75 and 78-74 twice.

A southpaw with an awkward style, Cabrera (19-0, 7 KOs) was born in Chicago of Mexican and Italian descent. Formerly the house fighter at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma, Washington, he was making his first start with Freddie Roach in his corner. Giron declined to 16-2.

Other Bouts of Note

In the concluding bout of the ESPN+ portion of the show, St. Louis heavyweight Stephen Shaw (16-0, 12 KOs) dominated Philadelphia’s rugged but limited Joey Dawejko (21-10-4) en route to an eighth-round stoppage. The fight was stopped at the 1:04 mark of the final round at the behest of Dawekjo’s corner. Standing six-foot-four, Shaw had a 6-inch height advantage.

Local product Jeremiah Milton was fed a softie in the form of beefy West Virginia slug Dell Long and needed just 97 seconds to improve his ledger to 4-0 (4). Long was stopped for the eighth time in his last 12 starts, a phase in which he is 2-9-1. He was on the deck twice before the blowout was halted.

Nico Ali Walsh, the 21-year-old grandson of Muhammad Ali, took a step back in class after a substandard showing in his last start and improved to 4-0 (3) with a second-round stoppage of Erie, Pennsylvania’s Jeremiah Yeager (1-2-1).

In the opener of the card on the main ESPN platform, Cleveland’s Delante “Tiger” Johnson, a 2020/21 Tokyo Olympian, won his second pro fight with a 4-round shutout of Albuquerque’s Xavier Madrid (3-1). Madrid was a willing mixer but was outclassed.

Photo credit: Mikey Williams / Top Rank via Getty Images

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