Former light heavyweight world champion Jean Pascal (32-5-1, 19 KOs) scored an impressive stoppage of previously unbeaten Ahmed Elbiali (16-1, 13 KOs) in the sixth round of the main event of a special Friday night edition of Premier Boxing Champions TOE-TO-TOE TUESDAYS on FS1 and BOXEO DE CAMPEONES on FOX Deportes at Hialeah Park in Miami, Florida.
Having already stated that this bout would be the final of his 12-year career, Pascal was able to wear down his younger opponent in a fight that featured power punches throughout. Elibali appeared to have Pascal stunned and hurt in the opening moments of the first round, but was unable to capitalize as Pascal began to time his powerful counters.
“It was a beautiful fight,” said Pascal. “I knew it would be my last one and I wanted to make a statement against a young, unbeaten fighter. It went basically as I expected, a couple of difficult moments but I was able to do everything I wanted.”
Elbiali stuck to his strategy of walking down Pascal with power shots, but exhausted too much energy in doing so while not being able to seriously hurt his opponent. Pascal’s counters grew stronger as the fight went on and Elbiali lost steam on his punches as he entered the sixth round for only the fourth time in his pro career.
After an impressive round five, Pascal poured on the attack in round six, landing numerous unanswered hooks before Elbiali’s corner called for a stop to the fight at 2:06 into the round.
“I fought his fight, I should have boxed more and taken him into the later rounds,” said Elbiali. “It wasn’t my day. He is a world class fighter. I felt like I hurt him in the first round, but I felt drained after that. I’m not sure why, it might have been the nerves. But I’ll learn from this.”
The co-main event of the telecast saw top heavyweight contender Luis “King Kong” Ortiz (28-0, 24 KOs) deliver a second round knockout of Daniel Martz (16-6-1, 13 KOs) and swiftly call out heavyweight world champion Deontay Wilder, who had joined the FS1 broadcast ringside.
The towering heavyweights exchanged words in the ring after the fight, with both men looking forward to a possible matchup in 2018.
“I’ve wanted you and I’m going to bless you again with another opportunity,” said Wilder. “I was ready the first time. This is a new day for you. I think you’re one of the best heavyweights in the world and I want to prove that I am the best. We must fight each other. You will have your fight.”
“Anthony Joshua doesn’t want to fight either of us, let’s give the world this fight,” said Ortiz. “There will be no excuses. I will be ready to do this for Cuba!”
Ortiz made quick work of his opponent, knocking him down with body shots in round one before delivering a counter left hand that put Martz down and prompted referee Samuel Burgos to stop the fight 43 seconds into round two.
Additional televised action featured welterweight prospect Bryant Perrella (15-1, 13 KOs) return to the ring to drop Alex Martin (13-3, 5 KOs) on his way to a unanimous decision victory.
“I felt pretty good about the fight,” said Perrella. “There are some things I’d like to have done different, but considering I was out for 15 months and injured for a long time, I’m pleased with what I was able to accomplish. I didn’t get the knockout after hurting him, but I was able to handle him better than anyone else before me.”
Perrella got off to a fast start when he landed a thudding lead right hook from the southpaw stance that put Martin on the canvas. Martin was able to recover enough to survive the round and rebounded to put together several good rounds while showing off impressive boxing ability.
The Florida-native Perrella was able to stabilize his lead and ride the momentum from the early knockdown to victory as he picked up his jab and overall aggressiveness in the second half of the fight. After 10 rounds the judges saw the fight in favor of Perrella by scores of 79-72 twice and 77-74.
The opening bout of the telecast saw a battle of unbeaten featherweight prospects as Philadelphia’s Stephen Fulton (12-0, 5 KOs) earned a majority decision victory over Adam Lopez (8-1, 3 KOs).
“I worked hard to get the win,” said Fulton. “I had to adjust after the first two rounds but I took the fight to him and controlled the pace. He thought he had me hurt in round two, but it wasn’t anything. He landed a good shot but that was it. I never stressed about how the fight would turn out as long as I stuck to the game plan.”
Lopez had his best moment of the fight late in round two when he staggered and appeared to hurt Fulton, who took a series of right hands before hearing the bell. Fulton was able to adjust and use his jab effectively while countering and rarely allowing Lopez to cut off the ring. Lopez was successful when he was able to get Fulton pinned against the ropes, but after eight rounds the judges ruled in favor of Fulton by scores of 78-74, 77-75 and 76-76.
