Jamal James and Thomas Dulorme were looking for well-balanced opponents of the main event when Premier Boxing Champions returned to FOX airwaves last night from Los Angeles, and that was more or less the case, but James pulled away in the second half of the fight to win a safe decision and take the interim WBA welterweight title.
James won on scores 115-113, 116-112, and 117-111. Bad Left Hook had the fight 116-112 and 117-111 for James.
James (27-1, 12 KO) achieves his seventh straight win after a loss back then in the 2016 startup to Yordenis Ugas, which is quite outdated, as Ugas has since become one of the best and probably the most prevent fighter in welterweight has become distribution.
Dulorme (25-4-1, 16 KO) was competitive as he normally is, but the 30-year-old Puerto Rican came back a little short in a big chance because James just worked him out and landed too many shots, especially in the second half of the game, when Dulorme began to disappear, leading to several verbal attacks between rounds, when coach Joel Diaz tried – and apparently for the most part failed – to motivate his fighter.
James, 32, is now pretty officially “in the mix” at 147; even if you do not have him as a top 10 man, and the highest you can reasonably have him is no. 8, he has a good run, he has a good appearance, and although intermediate titles do not normally guarantee everything in boxing, it does mean that he has the attention of the WBA.
For what it’s worth, the WBA’s “super world” champion is at 147 Manny Pacquiao, and her currently defunct “world” title – which should not exist, but that’s another story – will be on Sept. . Being around between the former Ugas and Abel Ramos. It’s unthinkable we could end up with a Ugas-James rematch at the end of 2020 or early 2021. (They also have a “golden” title, held by Vergil Ortiz Jr., if you want to complete the set here.)
Omar Juarez UD-6 Willie Shaw Jr
Juarez, a 21-year-old junior welterweight prospect from Brownsville, Texas, improves to 8-0 (4 KO) with a clear, if not thrilling decision win over Shaw (12-2, 8 KO), a 28-year-old from California , whose approach to boxing is not affected, but without the “hit” part that normally occurs for this old chestnut.
There’s some value in a young fighter who’s up against someone like Shaw, who’s athletic and a little slick, but does not throw back enough to be a real danger. You get some rounds with this guy and get some different looks, but it’s not particularly fun to watch, no. But Juarez passed the test, winning on scores 58-56, 59-55, and 60-54. BLH had it 59-55 and 60-54 for Juarez.
David Morrell Jr. UD-12 Lennox Allen
This was for an interim WBA title at 168 pounds, with top Cuban prospect Morrell (3-0, 2 KO) here getting a bit of a test against Allen (22-1-1, 14 KO), a 35 -year-old veteran who has never really met anyone, but proved to be capable and slim, if a little too much matches the skill set of 22-year-old Morrell.
Scores here were 118-110, 119-109, and 120-108. BLH had the fight Morrell 117-111 on both of our cards, so a little tighter, but with a clear winner.
Morrell has good skills, apparently still young and developing, and no matter what drinks you throw up here, Allen is a long way from the real class boys at 168 pounds, but this is a promising young fighter and of course has some gifts, great amateur experience in the Cuban system, and he fights – at least so far – with real confidence. We’ll see how he lifts the ladder, but he can also climb another 5-10 battles over this level, depending on what comes next.
Lucas Santamaria UD-10 Mykal Fox
An appearance here in the last fight to air the night, the FS1 “postlem” main event, because Santamaria (11-1-1, 7 KO) in principle fought for the exact right fight, and the 22-year-old from Garden Grove, Calif., knocks out 24-year-old Fox (22-2, 5 KO), who had something of a 2019 breakout.
Santamaria, who took a big step in the competition, said he would put pressure on the much taller Fox, who scored just under 6’4 “as a 140/147 pound fighter, with Santamaria not small for the weights at 5’8 “itself, but still gave up a ton of height.
Fox never worked very effectively on range, and Lennox Lewis felt that this might give judges the impression that, although he landed some good stuff nearby, Fox did the wrong fight, which he was, and thus loses, somewhat more debatable. used to be .
CompuBox numbers were about as close as possible here in general, but Santamaria had something of an edge in the punches, and did some nice body work. BLH had it 95-94 for Santamaria, while the official judges had it a broader 96-93, 97-92, and 99-90.
As mentioned, Fox had a bit of a breakout year in 2019, losing a controversial decision to Shohjahon Ergashev before he ousted former Olympic gold medalist Fazliddin Gaibnazarov, and he ended the year with wins over Eudy Bernardo and John Arellano, too. . He saw 140 as a potentially real problem, but he had to fight and just ran into a man who had the right plan. Santamaria is now one to hold 147 because he has a loss, but it came in 2015, when he was 17 and a baby in the game. He also signed with Marquis Taylor in June 2019, but this marks a second straight win for him and something to springboard from if he can do it.
Vito Mielnicki Jr. TKO-2 Chris Rollins
Rollins (3-2, 2 KO) protested the stop of referee Jerry Cantu’s second round, but this was an endless exercise, really, and he was abused by 18-year-old Mielnicki (6-0, 4 KO). Mielnicki worked the 30-year-old Rollins out and worked it out, inflicting damage. Rollins looked consistently rocked. The stoppage was fine, and Mielnicki gets another TV win. he is years from something really to do, but we consistently look at its development as a welterweight perspective.
Michael Coffie TKO-5 Luis Pena
Two heavyweights gaining a TV spot in these sad times. Coffie (10-0, 7 KO) dropped Pena (6-1, 6 KO) twice, once in the third on a counter-left fence that caught Pena on top of her head, and again in the fifth when he left three land hooks in response to Pena landing one.
Pena, 25, probably has the better skill compared to the 34-year-old Coffie, but Pena is a 5’11 “, 230-pound man, and Coffie is a huge guy, 6’5” and waited in for 279 for this fight, and it’s a solid 279. Pena just could not do much with Coffie’s great and natural power advantage. Coffie, a New Yorker, is 34 years old and still fighting at this level, so it’s what it is, but who knows?
