Philadelphia’s Julian “J-Rock” Williams outworked, out-punched and out-hustled his way to a unanimous decision over previously undefeated “Swift” Jarrett Hurd of Accokeek. Md., to win the unified WBA/IBF/IBO super welterweight championship at the Eagle Bank Arena in Fairfax, Va., in front of a crowd of 5,105 and a nationally televised audience.
Williams beat Hurd to the punch with great jabs and inside punches and repeatedly was first in his exchanges with Hurd. In the second round. Williams dropped Hurd with a left hand to the head — the first time Hurd had been knocked down in his pro career.
Hurd did land some shots midway through the contest but Williams seemed to have an answer for every Hurd flurry by using angles and great movement. There would be no late-round heroics for Hurd as Williams went on to win by scores of 116-111 and 115-112 twice.
Williams won his first world championships and is now 27-1-1, 16 KOs. Hurd is now 23-1, 16 KOs.
“The pressure didn’t get to me. I just feel like J-Rock truly was the better man tonight,” Hurd said. “I kind of think hearing my hometown with my name being chanted, it caused me to try a little harder instead of just staying relaxed and take my time. That could have played a part, but no excuses.
“I felt like they had a game plan that worked better tonight,” he said. “We also had a game plan and it was to keep the pressure on him, but he came in shape and he came out the victor.”
The co-feature saw undefeated San Antonio super lightweight Mario “El Azteca” Barrios score a second-round knockout over Juan Jose Velasco of Pulpaia, Argentina. Barrios was aggressive from the start and eventually caught Velasco with a clean body shot followed by a solid right cross. Velasco went down and could not beat referee Wayne Spinola’s 10-count. Barrios is now 24-0, 16 KOs. Velasco falls to 20-2, 12 KOs.
The battle between Richmond, Va., middleweight “The Chosen One” Immanuwel Aleem and Matt Korobov of St. Petersburg, Fla., ended in a 10-round majority draw. Korobov seemed to land the harder punches in the contest, at times making Aleem take a step back. In the sixth round, Korobov wobbled Aleem with a strong right uppercut. However, Aleem fought back and turned the tide in the last three rounds as he caught the Russian native with strong punches of his own.
At first, Korobov was given the victory by majority decision because one of the judge’s scorecards was read as 96-95. However, that card was inaccurate and was actually a 95-95 score. Two of the judges scored the bout a draw while one judge saw Korobov winning 97-93. Aleem is now 18-1-2, 11 KOs while Korobov is 28-2-1, 14 KOs.
Glenarden, Md., lightweight Dravontay Speed Rawls won a six-round unanimous decision over veteran Jonathan Perez of Barranquilla, Colombia. Usually known for his hand speed, Rawls was very successful in using angles throughout this bout. Rawls repeatedly got off his punches first and outpointed his opponent. Rawls won by 59-54 twice and 58-55 to raise his record to 12-1-1, eight KOs. Perez is now 38-24, 30 KOs.
Stephen Fulton Jr. of Philadelphia captured the IBO super bantamweight title with a dominant 12-round unanimous decision over former champion Paulus Ambunda of Swakopmund, Namibia. Fulton was just too quick and too active for Ambunda as he peppered him with quick jabs and right hooks. Fulton dropped Ambunda with a right hook in the ninth round. All three judges scored the bout 120-107. Fulton remains undefeated at 16-0, seven KOs while Ambunda’s record drops to 27-3, 11 KOs.
Undefeated Bethesda, Md., super flyweight Alexandru “Spartan” Marin won a 10-round unanimous decision over a very tough Luis Concepcion of Panama City, Panama. The contest was an IBO elimination bout.
Marin, a native of Iasi, Romania, landed hard lefts and rights early in the contest. Concepcion kept coming forward, however, and by the middle rounds, got his offense going. Concepcion was able to open a cut along Marin’s left eye. However, Marin did enough work early to win the bout by scores of 97-93 and 96-94 twice.
Marin raises his record to 18-0, 11 KOs while Concepcion falls to 37-8, 26 KOs.
Baltimore super welterweight Aaron Anderson made short work of Carlos Galindo of Lima, Peru, stopping him at two minutes of the first round.
Anderson went to work early, reaching Galindo with hard head and body shots. Anderson dropped Galindo four times before referee Wayne Spinola halted the contest.
Anderson remains undefeated at 5-0, four KOs. Galindo is 1-10.
In a stunning start to this TGB Promotions card, Baltimore super middleweight Kevin “The Scarecrow” Womack Jr. scored a vicious second-round knockout over Mark “Sayless” Duncan of Clarksburg, Md.
The bout was pretty even until midway through the second when Womack threw a brutal right hand that froze Duncan against the ropes. Womack sent two more hard shots that dropped Duncan face down onto the canvas with a sickening thud. Referee Brent Bovell stopped the bout immediately at 1:39 of the second. Duncan had to be helped from the ring and had to be taken to a local hospital.
Womack is now 9-17-4, seven KOs while Duncan is 3-2, three KOs.
The walkout contest saw undefeated Bowie, Md., super lightweight Greg “Sharpshooter” Outlaw knock out Martin Nicolas Matamala of Neuquen, Argentina at 18 seconds of the fourth round. Outlaw dominated the bout early, knocking Matamala down in the third and fourth rounds before the bout was stopped. Outlaw remains undefeated at 8-0, three KOs while Matamala falls to 11-8, three KOs.