Stephen Fulton and David Morrell Jr. dazzled a boisterous crowd at the Armory in Minneapolis on Showtime. Both fighters have their sights set high for their next opponent later in 2022.
David Morrell Jr. is looking for a true test and tonight in front of his adopted hometown he took care of business once again. The Cuban native began the early goings applying his work downstairs, although once-beaten Kelvin Henderson was able to land a few punches he took a ton of damage in a high-guard on the ropes. To his credit Henderson has a pair of whiskers on him and even managed to land in spots over the following two rounds. Nearing the end of round 3 Morrell Jr. dished out flush shots in repetition forcing the referee to take a good look at possibly stopping the action.
In the fourth and what turned out to be the final round David’s jab finding a home, wisely he turned his jab into a short hook snapping Henderson’s neck back and once again forcing him to the ropes. It didn’t take long after a couple of telling punches for the referee to call off the fight. Some in press along with fans sitting near were complaining the right was stopped too early but the writing was on the wall and to be fair it could’ve been done a round earlier. The standout Cuban amateur now looks to face the undefeated top-notch super-middleweight David Benavidez later this year. If that doesn’t pan out Morrell Jr. will wanting to take a full step up in competition even though it’s becoming more difficult to find dancing partners due to the high risk low reward scenario we see all too often in the sport.
On to the main event that saw ‘Cool Boy Steph’ completely dominate a legit operator in Daniel Roman. Beyond short-lived success to the body and the rare land to Fulton’s head, Roman was thoroughly toyed with over 12-rounds. Fulton established his jab early and often, and it was all downhill from there for Roman. Instead of falling for a trap of getting grimy on the inside staying right there for Roman, Fulton decided to use his ring IQ and earned a runaway victory. Once Fulton marinated his jab to the face of Danny, the Philly fighter began to unleash overhand rights in pot-shot form or following that jab for a perfect 1-2. By the end of the night Fulton was mixing outside boxing, at range counters and then darting in to land a few punches pushing Roman back at times.
All and all Fulton’s footwork, both head and upper body movement matched with accurate punching make for a potent formula that will be very hard to cope with for future foes. Speaking of Stephen Fulton’s next move, let’s hope he can take on Murodjon Akhmadaliev owner of the other two straps in the 122-pound division and make a yet another undisputed matchup. The official scorecards read 119-109 twice and 120-100 all of course favoring Stephen Fulton. Tonight’s attendance at The Armory was a sold-out 4,695 making it the largest crowd for a boxing event outdoing their March card that reached 4,300.
On the undercard, Alfred Santiago stopped Karl Dargan explosively in round 1. Alfred Santiago wasn’t messing around ending this fight before it really started. Dargan got trapped on the ropes from a clean punch then was dropped hard. Santiago’s flurry forced the referee hands to step in ensuring a TKO knockout.
Right before Showtime broadcast started a pair of unbeaten prospects Jose Sanchez and Ariel De La Torre put on a show. De La Torre started fast boxing on the move in what was a spirited two-way opening frame. De La Torre landed flashy shots off the ropes keeping Sanchez off balance in the second round. From the third round on the pressure and thudding shots landed by Jose Sanchez proved to be the difference maker. De La Torre still had moments but it was clear he was tiring as the bout played out. Sanchez hooks with both hands, body attack, and looping right hands were too much to overcome for De La Torre. The scorecards favored Jose Sanchez 78-74, and two 77-75.
Travon Marshall defeated Amin El in a dominant outing for the now 6-0 prospect from Landover, Maryland. Using a steady jab Travon slowly but surely turned up the pressure amounting to three knockdowns in route to a 6th round knockout.
Super Featherweight prospects Malik Warren & Demler Zamora moved to 7-0 (6KO’s) & 9-0 (8KO’s) respectively with easy wins. Kazakhstani fighters Abilkhan Amankul, Ablaikhan Zhussupov, Yevgeniy Pavlov, and Bek Nurmaganbet all won by early stoppages.
Written by Chris Carlson Host/Producer of The Rope A Dope Radio Podcast Available at www.blogtalkradio.com/ropeadoperadio Follow on Twitter @RopeADopeRadio
