Claressa “T Rex” Shields captured the vacant WBC Silver super middleweight title by pummeling durable Sydney LeBlanc for eight one-sided rounds of exciting action at Salita Promotions’ Detroit Brawl.
DETROIT – On Friday, June 16 Claressa Shields followed up her history-making win back in March – a victorius SHOWTIME ShoBox: The Next Generation headlining bout against Szilvia Szabados – by adding another belt to her growing collection of hardware. NABF middleweight champion Shields (3-0, 1 KO) extended her professional win streak to three fights by convincingly defeating Louisiana’s Sydney LeBlanc (4-2-1) for the vacant WBC Silver super middleweight title over 8 rounds of grueling action. The fight, the main event of Salita Promotions’ Detroit Brawl series, was Shield’s second consecutive bout with the Detroit-based promoter, and the event was held at the Detroit Masonic Temple.
Shields, a Flint, Michigan native fighting in front of hometown fans for her second consecutive fight, overwhelmed LeBlanc from the outset of the fight. As soon as the two fighters squared up in the middle of ring, Shields unleashed several vicious flurries that forced LeBlanc’s back up against the ropes, guard high looking to weather Shields’ expected early storm. Similar to the signature punch of Szabados fight, Shields’ straight right hand began splitting LeBlanc’s guard to score powerful head shots.
The referee moved in closely to the women to observe LeBlanc as she attempted to bob and weave until Shields’ flurries subsided, and it appeared that a stoppage was imminent – and possibly warranted. After making a good run at a quick stoppage, Shields showed some growth from the Szabados fight by wisely moving from full-on brawling and stepped back to work for the knockout with a more controlled approach.
Once LeBlanc moved off the ropes and the action returned to the center of the ring Shields connected with an overhand right that had LeBlanc in trouble again, and the two-time Olympic gold medalist also started mixing in some impressive body work at the end of her combinations.
LeBlanc continued to withstand Shields’ unrelenting assault, and while she reportedly accepted the fight on three days’ notice after Mery Rancier was forced to withdraw due to visa issues, the fact that she was currently training for another fight served her well with enduring Shields’ body shots.
The explosive first round appeared to run beyond the official two-minute time limit for women’s boxing. In round two Shields continued to be patient in her attack, and displayed some good work with her left hand. She maintained control of the fight in round three, and punished LeBlanc along the ropes as she crashed a series of left and right hooks into the Louisiana native’s head by punching around her high guard.
Early in the fourth Shields busted through LeBlanc’s high guard with a vicious right hand that snapped her head back violently, but after a twenty seconds of covering up LeBlanc got off the ropes and started walking to Shields looking to land compact shots. In the fifth round LeBlanc landed one of her most significant shots in the match as she connected with a left uppercut, but she didn’t commit to working inside as Shields stood waiting with her back against the ropes.
As the fight moved into the final three rounds and it became apparent LeBlanc was going to make it through the fight’s scheduled 8 rounds Shields mixed in some good footwork in spots, fired off some good combinations from close range, attacked the body well, and slipped off of LeBlanc here and there to get some separation to land various power punches. In the sixth round Shields landed a beautiful double hook body-to-head combination, and then went on to explode at the end of a couple of rounds as to not let LeBlanc steal any good moments for the entire fight.
In the end, Shields was rewarded for her consistent effort as her hand was raised in victory after all three scorecards read 80-72 in her favor, and the green WBC Silver super middleweight belt was placed around her waist, matching well with the new champion’s white trunks trimmed with aqua blue. A color scheme chosen as a reminder to all in attendance that the Flint water crisis is still an ongoing matter.
Alexey Zubov (15-1, 9 KOs) vs Demetrius Banks (9-1, 4 KOs): The evening’s co-main event featured a pair of cruiserweights from Detroit. The undefeated Banks entered the ring having taken the fight on short notice, and spent the night mainly looking to catch Zubov – trained by the Kronk Gym’s Javan Hill – with a big right hand. The Russian easily outworked Banks for the majority of the 10 rounds, but was forced mainly to attacking Bank’s head while the shorter man stayed clammed up in his shell guard until fatigue completely caught up with him through the final three rounds.
Zubov attempted to pierce Banks’ defense early on with jabs, feinting, and by landing some looping hooks but he rarely changed up his angles to possibly get Banks off-balance or out of position. The two fighters exchanged big left hooks in the fifth round, but neither man landed many combinations with more than 2-3 punches throughout the fight. Over the second half of the fight Banks increasingly became a single shot puncher, and despite his arms being completely down at his waist for most of the final three rounds, he did manage to catch Zubov with a thudding uppercut as Zubov tried to exploit the open lower body he didn’t see much of at all the first three rounds.
Zubov finally punished Banks to the body in the 9th round, and connected with a lunging left hook with about twenty seconds to go that a gassed Banks took extremely well for his suspect conditioning. The two fighters exchanged some solid punches over the final three minutes, with the fatigued Banks surprisingly digging deep to land his share of good shots. However, all three judges scored the fight 99-91 for a unanimous decision for Zubov.
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Ja’Rico O’Quinn (7-0, 5 KOs) vs David Martino (2-2, 2 KOs): This bantamweight match-up was eagerly anticipated by the hometown crowd expecting to see the Detroit native O’Quinn’s follow-up performance to his last fight on a Shields undercard. O’Quinn nearly stole the show as part of the untelevised portion of SHOWTIME: ShoBox The New Generation’s March 10 card with his brutal, electrifying 1:23 knockout of Szilveszter Kanalas – the Hungarian with 17 career fights was O’Quinn’s most seasoned opponent to date.
By comparison, one might have looked at the combination of Martino’s total of just four fights and his noticeable size disadvantage to portend a similarly violent ending to the Kanalas fight. However, Martino calmly stepped into the lions’ den to introduce the stoked Detroit crowd, first-hand, to some true Mexican boxing.
O’Quinn opened the fight with a sweeping left jab to move Martino’s guard so he could drop some heavy right hands on the Mexican fighter. His power got the respect of Martino, who countered by constantly changing his levels while also varying his range, but he surprisingly stayed in the pocket more than expected. At the end of two convincing rounds for O’Quinn who worked from the southpaw stance more extensively in round two, Martino connected with a short left hand at the bell that got the Great Lake King’s attention.
O’Quinn responded with a furious jab to open round three before whipping crushing left and right hooks to Martino’s body. Martino’s right hand was neutralized for most of the fight, but in round four he connected with the left hand again, this time a left hook as he caught up to O’Quinn in the corner. O’Quinn quickly moved the action back to the center of the ring and began managing the range more consistently, he closed out the round punishing Martino with a series of heavy shots.
Over the final two rounds O’Quinn seemed to visibly deal with his urges to go for the knockout as Martino continued to walk to him, at times forcing him fight backing up while keeping the determined Mexican fighter at bay with a steady jab. With five knockouts in his first six bouts O’Quinn wasn’t accustomed to fighting off his back foot, but he adapted to it well while switching stances throughout the 6th round finishing the fight behind a solid jab with some crisp one-two combinations mixed in for good measure.
Martino landed another left hook that knocked out O’Quinn’s mouth guard, but the undefeated Motor City prospect cruised to his 7th win as all three judges scored the entertaining fight 60-54.
Bakhtiyar Eyubov (13-0, 11 KOs) vs Cesar Soriano (27-36-1, 16 KOs): Eyubov, a highly aggressive welterweight, also thrilled fans with his high-volume slugging style on the ShoBox: The New Generation card on March 10. Eyubov pummeled Gilbert Venegas for 6 rounds en route to a unanimous decision victory – only losing a round on one of the judge’s cards.
Unfortunately, Soriano drew maybe the toughest assignment of the night. Eyubov immediately touched Soriano to the body with a crushing left hook before a subsequent left hook to the head forced Soriano down to one knee. As soon he got back upright Eyubov moved in for the finish with repeated left hooks to Soriano’s right lower torso. Soriano managed to sneak in two solid left hooks of his own to briefly interrupt Eyubov’s attack, but after connecting with a few more punishing hooks Eyubov stepped back motioning to the ref like Soriano had taken enough – the ref wisely agreed and stopped the fight.
Serdah Hudayberdiyev (3-1, 2 KOs) vs Antonio Urista (8-2, 2 KOs): Hudayberdiyev, a member of Turkey’s Olympic boxing team in 2012, appeared to be the more polished boxer, but Detroit-based super welterweight Urista tirelessly outworked the Turkish fighter over 6 physical rounds. While the Turkish fighter tried to get into a good punching rhythm Urista struck first, landing a looping overhand right that floored Hudayberdiyev. The Turkish fighter got to his feet, walked Urista down and landed some good combinations with some punishing body work to finish the round strong.
Both fighters sustained cuts over, or near, their right eyes due to head butts. Urista’s cut was the result of an intentional butt. Urista also landed another big overhand right in the round. The former Olympian snapped Urista’s head back in the third round with a looping left hook. By the fourth round Urista’s sharpness with his pressure was gone due to fatigue.
In the fifth round Hudayberdiyev received a point deduction acting out of frustration, but he followed he it up with his best combination punching of the fight. He rallied again early in the 6th and final round, looking to stop Urista, but he gassed out around the final minute. Urista’s grit and early knockdown helped him earn a unanimous decision with scores of 59-53 and 58-54 twice.
Dimash Niyazov (11-0-3, 5 KOs) vs Ramon Guevara (10-25-2, 6 KOs): Niyazov and Guevara engaged in five rounds of exciting lightweight action. Niyazov, originally from Kazakhstan, remained committed to his crisp left jab the entire fight. A Guevara left hand knocked Niyazov’s mouth guard out of the Kazakh’s mouth in round one, and Niyazov responded with a sharp lead right hand in round two.
Guevara switched between orthodox and southpaw stances early in the fight for different looks. He scored with a big left hook in round three, and a sharp straight right-left jab combination in the fourth round. However, Niyazov’s work with his right hand off of his busy jab began to wear Guevara down by the fifth round. A right hand led to Niyazov’s first knockdown. The second knockdown resulted from another big right hand followed by a left hook. Niyazov struggled earlier in the fight trying to land upper cuts from the outside, but he finally connected with a right uppercut while standing in the pocket, and the ref stepped in to stop the fight.
Jacob Bonas (3-0-1, 2 KOs) vs Tony Brooks (1-1): Bonas entered the ring wearing the familiar Kronk Gym trunks led by Javan Hill and accompanied by former IBF world heavyweight champion Charles Martin. Bonas patiently followed Brooks around the ring as the Toledo-based welterweight attempted to operate from the outside. In round two Bonas got started early attacking Brooks’ body with a jab to set up a left hook in the first minute. Bonas also added a right cross as Brooks’ movement continued to slow, but an overhand right late in the round appeared to bother Brooks considerably. In between rounds Brooks’ corner advised the ref that their fighter would not continue.
Scott McCurdy (0-1) vs Daren Gibbs (1-2, 1 KO): Ferndale’s Gibbs, a winless light heavyweight, pounced on newcomer McCurdy of Detroit quickly. Within moments of the first bell Gibbs sent McGurdy to the canvas after a free-swinging flurry of punches as McCurdy appeared to be out on his feet. After showing the referee the minimal assurance he was ready to continue, McCurdy attempted to salvage his professional debut, but the confident Gibbs moved forward to unleash another fierce combination that sent McCurdy back to the canvas, and the referee immediately stopped the fight after 30 seconds.
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