Undercard Results from Las Vegas

By Miguel Maravilla at ringside
Photos: Mikey Williams / Top Rank

WBA #2 rated welterweight and former WBA interim 140lb world champion Jose Benavidez, Jr (24-0, 16 KOs) defeated Francisco “Chia” Santana (24-4-1, 12 KOs) by ten round unanimous decision. Benavidez caught Santana with some hard shots in rounds one and two, but Santana made it a tough, gritty fight after that. Benavidez prevailed by scores of 100-90, 96-94, 98-92.

WBC #6, IBF #10, WBO #14 rated light heavyweight and 2012 Olympic bronze medalist Oleksandr “The Nail” Gvozdyk (11-0, 9 KOs) had a scare, but stopped two-time world title challenger Tommy Karpency (26-6-1, 15 KOs) in round six of a clash for the NABF championship. Karpency dropped Gvozdyk and had him hurt in round one, but Gvozdyk recovered and turned the tables, methodically busting up Karpency. The end came in round six when Gvozdyk sent Karpency to a knee for the count. Time was 2:21.

2012 Olympic middleweight gold medalist Ryota Murata (11-0, 8 KOs) demolished George “Comanche Boy” Tahdooahnippah (34-3-3, 24 KOs) in the first round. A body shot by Murata sent Tahdooahnippah to the canvas. He got up, but Murata finished him with his follow up barrage. Referee Benji Estevez stepped in at 1:52.

IBF #7, WBO #15 jr welterweight Lenny Zappavigna (35-2, 25 KOs) scored an explosive sixth round TKO over IBF #10 IK Yang (18-2, 13 KOs). Yang got off to a good start, but Zappavigna got stronger as the bout progressed. Zappavigna rocked Yang in the sixth and referee Vic Drakulich waved it off. Time was :43. The bout was originally an IBF eliminator, but was changed to a welterweight bout at Yang’s request.

Welterweight Edward Williams (12-1-1, 3 KOs) hammered out a six round unanimous decision over Christon Edwards (6-2, 3 KOs). Scores were 59-55, 59-55, 58-56.

Junior middleweight Stanyilav Skorokhod (11-1, 8 KOs) scored a six round unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Hakim Bryant (6-1, 4 KOs). Skorokhod, a former Boxcino competitor, dropped Bryant twice in round one but had to go the full six. Scores were 59-53, 60-52, 60-52.

Unbeaten light heavyweight Steve Nelson (3-0, 3 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over Tim Meek (5-3-1, 3 KOs). Nelson dropped Meek at the end of round one and punished Meek until the bout was stopped at 32 seconds of round four.