PBC on ESPN results: Denis Shafikov dominates, stops Jamel Herring

Former two-time world title challenger Denis Shafikov kept himself in lightweight contention tonight, dominating and stopping Jamel Herring in the 10th and final round in Reading, Pennsylvania.

Herring (15-1, 8 KO) is a former U.S. Marine and was captain of the 2012 Olympic men’s boxing team, but there have always been questions about how serious his pro prospects were, particularly given his advanced age when he did turn pro in 2012. Now 30, Herring took a big step up in class tonight, and it proved to be a good deal too much for him.

Shafikov (37-2-1, 20 KO) dominated this fight, outworking Herring and battering him as the night wore on. He dropped Herring late in the second round, a flash knockdown, but that gave him all the confidence and momentum he needed.

Herring was fighting his best until the end, which came at 0:36 of round 10, when the American’s corner stopped the fight as soon as Shafikov landed a solid punch in the final round. They had told Herring they wanted to stop the fight after what was really a brutal ninth round where Herring was shaken badly, and stopped it as soon as they reasonably could in the 10th.

In the co-feature, middleweight prospect Patryk Szymanski stayed undefeated, outpointing Wilky Campfort over 10 rounds. Szymanski (16-0, 9 KO) won on scores of 98-92, 99-91, and 99-91. BLH had it 98-92 for Szymanski.

Szymanski, 23, was impressive in some ways, executing the jab well early, dominating with the basics, and mixed up his attack fairly well. Campfort (21-3, 12 KO) did get himself going in the fifth round, which was his best of the fight, but went through long spurts without doing much, and once the fight wasn’t in the phonebooth, he had a lot of trouble landing much of anything.