Novytskyi Remains Undefeated with Fourth-Round Stoppage of Flores
Heavyweight prospect Andrii Novytskyi needed four rounds and a good shot from Alexander Flores to fire up and win by knockout in a heavyweight showdown on Friday night.
Ukraine’s Novytskyi (16-0, 12 Kos) looked comfortable, almost too comfortable against Southern California’s Flores (21-6-1) at Thunder Studios in Long Beach, Calif. The fair sized arena was sold out.
For three rounds Novytskyi looked calm and in control as he jabbed and pounded the advancing Flores. The Ukrainian fighter looked in complete control until the end of the third round when Flores connected with a crisp right to the chin. Novytskyi held tight after being stunned.
The Ukrainian fighter expected Flores to come out more aggressively and then unloaded a quick combination that put the California fighter on the floor. Flores beat the count but was met by a more aggressive Novytskyi who opened up with a three-punch combination that hammered Flores to the floor again. This time the referee simply called the fight over at 2:20 of the fourth round.
“He is a tough guy,” said Novytskyi, who wins a regional WBC title.
Alejandra Rojas Rallies from Knockdown to Edge Chelsey Anderson
A rematch saw Alejandra Rojas (6-3-3) floored in the second round and nearly out before mounting a furious rally to defeat Chelsey Anderson (8-1-1) by split decision after eight rounds in a lightweight title fight.
“Truthfully, I was a little hurt,” said Rojas about being knocked down. “But my sister is in the hospital fighting. So I can fight as much as her.”
Anderson plastered Rojas with a right that dropped the Mexican fighter in the second round. But somehow Rojas got up and tried to rally right away. In the next round, Anderson had her way again with big right hands as Rojas attacked. But the more she punched the more energy she wasted and by the fourth round the momentum changed in favor of the Mexican.
For the remainder of the fight, Rojas was simply busier than Anderson, who seemed to be out of gas. Anderson did connect every so often, but it was not enough to offset the hard-charging Rojas. Although Anderson tried, she never seemed to have her legs under her while Rojas got busier and seemed fresher.
After eight rounds one judge saw it 76-75 for Anderson and two 77-75. 76-74 for Rojas, who wins the regional WBC title.
Knockouts and Comebacks Highlight the Undercard
A battle between super bantams saw Maywood’s Jose Casillas (7-1-1) win by stoppage over Filipino southpaw Josaphat Navarro (5-4-2) in a back and forth slugfest the began with a bang and ended in a banging knockout for Casillas.
Navarro started quickly and was on hyper drive for the first two rounds until Casillas turned things around in the third round. Then the taller Casillas, who is a school teacher in the Los Angeles area, changed strategies and turned things around.
Casillas began to hurt Navarro with long rights and left hooks beginning in the third round. From that moment on, the taller Casillas took over the fight and floored Navarro with a right hand in the sixth round. The fight continued, and Casillas rocked Navarro with a three-punch combination the forced the referee to halt the match at 2:05 of the sixth round for a win by technical knockout for Casillas.
San Bernardino’s Lawrence King (20-1, 16 Kos) knocked out Argentina’s Kevin Brizuela (9-4) in the seventh round of a cruiserweight fight but not after being tested early. King ended the fight by knocking down Brizuela with a straight left. He then finished the fight with a three-punch combination knockout at 1:57 of the seventh round.
Long Beach’s Julio Tanori (3-2) out-fought and out-punched Nevada’s Christian Avalos (4-6-2) to win by decision after six rounds in a lightweight fight.
Featherweights banged it out with Ivan Zarate (6-4) winning by knockout over Antonio Vazquez (4-4) in the beginning of the third round when the referee called the fight due to a broken jaw suffered by Vazquez.
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