Undercard Results from the Crawford-Spence Card

LAS VEGAS, NV — The Crawford-Spence mega-fight was girded with nine other bouts. Had they all gone the distance – which obviously had scant chance of  happening – 80 rounds of boxing would have been completed before the match that everyone came to see.

The first of the preliminaries commenced at 1 pm with the main attraction yet roughly eight hours away. At this time, there weren’t more than a few dozen people in the arena, aside from the folks that had to be there – ring officials, production crews, and gig workers. More than that number milled outside the arena complaining of the heat. For most, the undercard was of no concern.

Tellez-Garcia

The 10-round super welterweight contest Between Yoenis Tellez and Sergio Garcia wasn’t technically part of the undercard. It served as the opening salvo in the four-bout pay-per-view.

Tellez, a native of Santiago, Cuba, currently residing in Stafford, Texas, where he trains under Ronnie Shields, was undefeated but had only five pro fights under his belt. He was subbing for Jesus Ramos who pulled out with a hand injury. Garcia, a 30-year-old Spaniard, had a nice record (34-2, 14 KOs) but he had come up short in his two prior fights on U.S. soil while going the distance with Sebastian Fundora and Tony Harrison.

After two even rounds, Tellez brought the fight to a swift conclusion. A straight right hand knocked the Spaniard on the seat of his pants, He was up in a blink, only to be greeted by another right hand that knocked him flat on his back. Garcia beat the count, but Tellez knocked him into the ropes and loaded up on his punches. The referee intervened. Garcia complained, but to no avail.

The was a big step up in class for Tellez (6-0, 5 KOs) whose trajectory is mindful of his close friend and fellow Cuban-American David Morrell. Tellez (pictured below on the left) has another fight booked next month in Tacoma, Washington, against a fighter from Venezuela with a 32-2 record.

Nelson-Montgomery

Omaha super middleweight Stephen Nelson, a long-time friend and training partner of Terence Crawford, kept his unbeaten record intact with a 10-round unanimous decision over Victorville, California’s Rowdy Legend Montgomery (and yes, that is his real name).

A former National Golden Gloves champion, the 35-year-old Nelson seems quite content to compete in the shadow of Crawford. Despite his record, now 19-0 (15), his career is going nowhere, albeit that’s partly due to injuries. This was only his second fight in the last 34 months, He missed all of 2021 with an Achilles injury.

Montgomery (10-5-1) seldom planted his feet and had no snap on his punches, but was game to the core.

Reyes-Palicte

Tijuana super bantamweight Jose Salas Reyes improved to 13-0 (10 KOs) with a third-round stoppage of Filipino veteran Aston Palicte (28-6-1). It initially appeared that the stoppage was premature, but Palicte gave the referee no choice, indicating that he didn’t wish to continue after taking a knee from a left uppercut.

The 21-year-old Reyes is on the fast track. In his last outing this past April, in his U.S. debut, he pitched a 10-round shutout over an undefeated fighter from Ghana. Palicte, a two=time world title challenger at 115 pounds was good enough to hold long-reigning title-holder Donnie Nietes to a draw in 2018, but is now past his prime. His last start came in June of last year when he was stopped in three frames by Jason Moloney in Melbourne.

Other Bouts

Jabin Chollet, a rangy, 21-year-old lightweight from San Diego, advanced to 8-0 (7 KOs) at the expense of Hayward, California’s Michael Portales (3-2-1). It struck many as premature when the fight was waived off —  Portales had eaten some hard shots but was still plowing forward — but it was plain that Chollet was too big for him.

Las Vegas lightweight Demler Zamora, a well-touted, 20-year-old southpaw, advanced to 12-0 (9) with a unanimous decision over Nikolai Buzolin, a Brooklyn-based Russian. This bout had several heated exchanges before Buzolin adopted a defensive posture. Zamora swept all three cards across the board.

In a 6-round welterweight contest, Kansas City’s Deshawn Prather (16-1, 2 KOs) won a gift decision over Omaha’s previously undefeated Kevin Ventura (11-1). Prather had one good moment, scoring a flash knockdown with a short straight left, but otherwise spent the entire six rounds on his bicycle. All three  judges had it 57-56.

Super featherweight Justin Viloria, a 19-year-old super featherweight from Whittier, CA, won the lid-lifter with a fourth-round stoppage of Mexico’s Pedro Borgero. Viloria improves to 3-0 (3).  It was the first pro loss for Borgero (5-1).

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