By Tracy Morin at ringside
Photos: Ryan Greene/Premier Boxing Champions

By Fightnews.com

In the main event on Thursday from the Horseshoe in Tunica, Mississippi, southpaw Sammy Vasquez (21-2, 15 KOs) looked to bounce back from his first defeat by facing Luis Collazo, (37-7, 20 KOs), himself coming off a layoff after his loss to Keith Thurman. Vasquez established his jab and lateral movement from round 1, circling Collazo to avoid damage while potshotting from the perimeter. As Collazo barreled ahead in the second, Vasquez’s footwork and angles prevented much success. But when Collazo was able to suck Vasquez into more of a slugfest halfway through the third, a left-right combo as Collazo was pressed against the ropes sent Vasquez to the canvas. He beat the count and returned the favor in the fourth by stunning Collazo early with a left, then pressed the action only for Collazo to return vicious fire with his own combinations; the entire round was a barn burner, with each taking turns teeing off and Collazo smartly picking his power shots while pressed against the ropes. After a tit-for-tat fifth, Collazo unleashed a beast of a right hand (set up by a left hook) that positively crumpled Vasquez. Though a count was administered, Vasquez’s clear nonresponse caused ref Bill Clancy to halt the fight at 1:27 of round 6.

Yordenis Ugas (18-3, 8 KOs), a 2008 Cuban Olympic bronze medalist, and Levan Ghvamichava (17-3-1, 13 KOs) looked to boost their careers in a welterweight 10-rounder. After a fairly tentative first that marked Ugas as the more fluid fighter, the Cuban carried the second round thanks to a laserlike focus on landing well-placed body shots. Action heated up in the third as Ghvamichava started to let his hands go, landing his own body shots and counters between Ugas’s power right hands. Constant body work earned Ugas back-to-back low blow warnings, then a third warning, in the fifth, slowing his output slightly, but he generally remained the busier fighter until Ghvamichava, perhaps sensing some urgency, picked up his pace in the seventh. However, Ugas lost a point for a low blow in the eighth, chipping away at his lead, and the ninth rallied the crowd as the two fighters finished with a flurry. In the 10th, both threw bombs with conviction, though Ugas connected more frequently and more cleanly in combination. Ultimately, judges handed in their scorecards, which were all over the map: 99-90 for Ugas (Ressie Allen), 97-94 for Ugas (Mack Thornton) and 95-94 for Ghvamichava (Gerald Deming), handing the SD win to Ugas.

Two super lightweight prospects put their perfect records on the line as Ryan Karl (13-1, 9 KOs) faced Eddie Ramirez (16-0, 11 KOs), a former Chicago Golden Gloves champion, in a hard-fought battle scheduled for 10. Ramirez looked poised for the occasion, popping a stiff jab, as Karl appeared slightly overanxious in the opening stanza, in which clean punches were landed on both sides (though Ramirez was clearly heavier handed). Ramirez virtually battered Karl around the ring in the first minute or so of the second, while Karl showed his grit by fighting back and becoming the aggressor in the second half of the round. Karl pressed forward throughout the third and fourth as Ramirez showed patience, offering less offensive output but landing cleanly in spots. Ramirez perked up at the start of the fifth, but after a slugfest first minute, the fight settled into its familiar rhythm of Karl pressing ahead and Ramirez picking his shots while showing off a solid defense. The sixth brought roars from the crowd as both traded power shots until the closing bell, and the seventh amped up the drama when Karl absorbed vicious power shots to the head and body, sustaining a cut over the left eye in the process. Though Ramirez looked fresher heading into the final rounds, Karl flaunted a can’t-quit determination–and showed off a heck of a chin in the ninth, when Ramirez landed clean punches throughout. However, though he was never knocked down, after that one-sided round, Karl’s corner chose to wave off the bout, giving Ramirez the TKO win after the ninth.

Super lightweight Jose Miguel Borrego (11-0, 10 KOs) made his U.S. debut against Tomas Mendez (23-9, 16 KOs) in a scheduled 10-rounder that featured a fast pace from the opening bell. Borrego, a southpaw, scored cleanly to the head in a toe-to-toe fight, until a thudding left hand to the body halted Mendez. After a split-second delayed reaction, Mendez took a knee but couldn’t recover to beat the count; the fight ended at 2:25 of round 1.

On Thursday night in Tunica, Mississippi, Michael Seals (20-1, 15 KOs) faced Dennis Sharp (17-23-4, 4 KOs) in a light heavyweight bout scheduled for six rounds. Seals concentrated on the body and worked behind the jab, but it was a right to the temple that put his smaller opponent down in the first. Seals pressed the action in the second while starting to put his punches together in combination. When another right hand sent Sharp back to the canvas in the third, then another right sent him reeling after the count, the ref stopped the contest at 1:01 of round 3.

Meanwhile, heavyweight Jean Pierre Augustin (9-0-1, 4 KOs) needed only 34 seconds to blast Danny Phippen (21-4, 16 KOs), throwing an onslaught of punches from the opening bell and finally dropping his opponent, who took a knee and didn’t beat the count.

Lightweight Austin Dulay (8-0, 6 KO) may have outgunned fellow southpaw in Rynell Griffin (7-27-2, 2 KO) in terms of youth and speed, but the more experienced veteran proved to be no pushover–a good test for the undefeated 21-year-old. Still, in the fourth, Dulay caught and trapped his opponent in the corner, then landed a digging left to the body, scoring a knockdown. Dulay remained on the attack after Griffin beat the count, and after another left to the body, Griffin was down again. He started to rise at 10, but ultimately didn’t beat the count, leading to a fourth round KO for Dulay.