Willie Monroe Jr and John Thompson square off in a middleweight bout on Showtime Extreme prior to the main Showtime card.
Our night of live coverage will begin at 7 p.m. ET with two fights airing on Showtime Extreme, with round-by-round updates for both fights.
Willie Monroe Jr (19-2, 6 KO) will face John Thompson (17-2, 6 KO) in a 10-round middleweight bout, with both fighters looking to bounce back from losses in world title fights last year. Both are also former Boxcino tournament winners, Monroe as a middleweight in 2014 and Thompson as a junior middleweight in 2015. In their last fights, Monroe lost to Gennady Golovkin, and Thompson to Liam Smith.
Another former Boxcino winner, heavyweight Andrey Fedosov (28-3, 23 KO), will be in action against Mexico’s Mario Heredia (13-1, 11 KO) in another fight scheduled for 10 rounds.
These fights are preliminary bouts for the three-fight main card, which begins at 9 p.m. ET on Showtime, and we’ll have live coverage for that in another post, with Wil Esco on the call. But it all begins right here tonight! Join us!
RESULTS
Willie Monroe Jr def. John Thompson by unanimous decision (96-92, 95-93, 99-89)
Andrey Fedosov def. Mario Heredia by TKO (1:33 of round 6)
ROUND BY ROUND
WILLIE MONROE JR vs JOHN THOMPSON
Round 1: Two southpaws (well, Thompson is fighting southpaw here), both with good hand speed, neither with a lot of power. Monroe boxing well early here, Thompson struggling to really get going and missing wildly at times. Monroe waiting and baiting Thompson a lot to start this fight. Thompson with a counter left as he waits until Monroe jumps with a jab. Right hook inside from Monroe, a little check hook. Monroe looking very quick and sharp here. Monroe 10-9
Round 2: Monroe drops Thompson about a minute into the round with a good counter shot. Thompson up and will continue. Monroe jabs to the body, Thompson clips him with a counter up top. Monroe’s timing has been good, Thompson’s not bad — again, he can fight, but his defense and balance just not good. Monroe catches him with a left, then ducks under and is gone by the time Thompson’s counter shot comes. Monroe 10-8, 20-17
Round 3: Monroe still able to control this fight at the moment. Landing some really good shots this round. He’s just a step ahead Thompson pretty much all the time. Monroe 10-9, 30-26
Round 4: Monroe doing his thing here. He’s comfortable and fighting very well, doesn’t look at all like he’s been off a year or like his last fight was a really physically demanding loss. Monroe is just doing the business here. He’s been better than Thompson, simple as that. Monroe 10-9, 40-35
Round 5: Thompson doing a bit better this round, and then WHAM! He steps into a right hand and he’s down again. Up and back at it, Thompson lands a good right hand, but Monroe clips him again. Monroe 10-8, 50-43
Round 6: Again a bit closer a round, and Thompson landing some really good shots late in the round here, perhaps taking his first round. In fact, I give it to him. I don’t count, but I’M TAKING A STAND! Thompson 10-9, Monroe 59-53
Round 7: Not much happening this round. Not much at all. Uh. Monroe 10-9, 69-62
Round 8: Thompson not doing much but I guess doing more? or not? Because he’s not really doing anything. This is a really dead fight these last two rounds. Wasn’t too bad before then. Monroe just waiting and staying very cautious. I guess Monroe landed a couple clean shots? Monroe 10-9, 79-71
Round 9: Monroe playing keepaway and Thompson isn’t doing much about it. The action for this fight has totally disappeared. It wasn’t exactly Gatti-Ward to begin with. Monroe 10-9, 89-80
Round 10: Monroe running around the ring. I’m giving Thompson the round entirely because Monroe is almost refusing to fight. Thompson 10-9, Monroe 98-90
ANDREY FEDOSOV vs MARIO HEREDIA
Round 1: Heredia throwing a jab from distance early. Left hook from Heredia. 1-2 from Heredia. Left from Fedosov as he finally gets going. “Finally.” A minute into the round. Who am I? What am I doing? More jabbing from Heredia, and it has some zip on it. Heredia jabbing, getting a bit aggressive, and runs into a quick hook inside from Fedosov. Heredia with a very good opening round. Heredia 10-9
Round 2: Fedosov tries a quick charge in, Heredia ties him up. Heredia keeping the jab going. Threw 48 in the first round. Counter hook from Fedosov grazes, but Heredia back with three jabs and a right hand. Fedosov again with a glancing left, Heredia backs off and resets. This is going to be miserable watching Heredia, I can tell — he’s clearly talented. Body shots inside from Heredia. Left hook again from Fedosov, that one cleaner landing. Got caught napping a bit there. Another left from Fedosov. More competitive round, Fedosov got going and Heredia’s jab was taken away a bit. Fedosov 10-9, 19-19
Round 3: Fedosov lands a good shot early, and Heredia starts coming back with a BIG flurry of power shots. This kid’s got heavy hands, can box, hard jab, decent speed. Big left hand from Fedosov shakes Heredia up with about a minute left in the round, Heredia ties it up. Another good left, and he’s hurt again, and he goes down! He’s up. Heredia’s nose bloodied. He’ll make it out of the round. Fedosov 10-8, 29-27
Round 4: Heredia making the mistake of mixing up in close with Fedosov, where Fedosov is at his best. Fedosov clips him again and then bangs to the body. Hook again and another from Fedosov. He’s surging and looking to finish, but backs down when Heredia covers up on the ropes. Fedosov looks totally in control right now. Another hook. Heredia standing his ground and trying to fight back, but Fedosov is now fighting really confident. Left hand and Heredia is down again with 20 seconds left in the round. He’ll get up and out of the round. Fedosov 10-8, 39-35
Round 5: Fedosov putting punches together now, he’s fighting relaxed, stalking a clearly fatigued Heredia, who is simply too fat to hold up and keep a pace. That’s what’s beating him more than anything. Wicked body shots from Fedosov. Heredia backs off. He eats another huge hook upstairs. Heredia fading quickly. Leans straight back after throwing and gets smashed with shots. Fedosov beating up on Heredia against the ropes, and he’s down with 20 seconds left in the round again. Once again, he’s up and might survive the round, but Fedosov is trying to finish. He can’t. Fedosov 10-8, 49-43
Round 6: Fedosov starting fast again this round. Heredia backed to the ropes again, leaning back, but fighting off now. Heredia making a charge now, throwing to the body, misses an uppercut. Now back to the center of the ring and trying to jab. Heredia down again with about 1:50 left in the round. Referee counts to eight, he’s up, and he stops the fight. Fedosov TKO-6
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