In the main event, WBO middleweight champion Demetrius Andrade stopped Luke Keeler in the ninth round of yet another uncompetitive Andrade title defense.
Andrade knocked Keeler down in the first and second rounds, but then gradually broke Keeler down under a steady assault before a badly hurt Keeler was saved by the referee with seconds remaining in the ninth.
Andrade won every round and rarely was even touched by Keeler in the lopsided tilt.
Andrade, who is the ultimate high-risk/low reward fighter in the game today, is in desperate need of someone that can test him and thus far in his title reign hasn't been pushed at all, spoke of moving to super-middleweight to fight WBO champion Billy Joe Saunders in a fight that was scheduled for 2018 for the title that Andrade currently possesses, but was then owned by Saunders.
That fight was canceled when Saunders tested positive for a banned substance and the two have sparred on social media since.
Saunders would be the toughest test for Andrade in his career, but I'd rather see Andrade against WBC middleweight champion Jermall Charlo, who reportedly turned down seven million dollars for a one fight agreement to face Andrade.
The middle fight was a little more competitive but wasn't close on my scorecard as Joseph Diaz won the IBF junior lightweight title from Tevin Farmer via unanimous decision in a mild upset.
Diaz gritted through an extremely bad gash over his left eye after the two collided heads in the second round and took advantage of a heavy-legged Farmer to land to the body often.
I thought Diaz controlled the bout easily, but my 118-110 card was a bit larger than those of the judges.
Diaz simply refused to back up and Farmer neither had the legs to box Diaz with movement nor the strength to win the inside battles.
The surprising win for Diaz will have to be repeated as there is a rematch clause in the contract.
The best fight of the night was the opener as M.J. (he wants to be known as M.J for his love of Michael Jackson) Akhmadaliev squeaked out a split decision over Daniel Roman to lift Roman's WBA and IBF junior featherweight titles.
Akhmadaliev won the majority of the early rounds with Roman rallying later as the best action rounds were the final three rounds with both fighters landing hard blows, but Roman earning a small edge.
The scorecards were close and fair as all three judges scored the fight 115-113 (7-5 rounds) with two for Akhmadaliev and the dissenting board for Roman.
The styles meshed well with Akhmadaliev as a more athletic and slick southpaw with Roman fighting in a more traditional manner.
I scored the fight even at 114-114 and I would love to see a rematch, which is likely considering the other two champions in the division (WBC champ Rey Vargas is now with PBC and WBO champ Emmanuel Navarrete is a Top Rank/ESPN fighter) fight elsewhere and a rematch is the likely biggest fight that either can find at this time.
One final note: While Daniel Roman should be applauded for fighting his mandatory in a tough fight, Chris Mannix of DAZN, who I like, stated on the broadcast, as he had on his podcast, earlier in the week that he couldn't understand why Roman accepted the challenge of Akhmadaliev and that he should have vacated one of the two titles (In this case the WBA) to avoid Akhmadaliev and stay undefeated.
In boxing, we claim so often that a loss shouldn't ruin a fighter and that we want to see the best fight the best, but then when a champion does just that and dares to be the best, some wonder why they didn't take the easy way out.
Mannix is dead wrong on this and more fighters should bet on themselves as Daniel Roman did- Roman may have lost his titles, but he gained in the eyes of the intelligent observer because he was everything that fans wish champions to be.
Good for him.
In the Boxing Challenge, I outscored Ramon Malpica three to two and pulled into an overall tie for the season lead at 12-12.
The difference was the Akhmadaliev win over Roman.
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