Alfredo Angulo is the headliner tonight as he attempts to shake off his first career loss. Undefeated Anthony Dirrell is also in action as Friday Night Fights comes to us live from Buffalo Bill's in Primm, Nevada.
Joe Tessitore and Teddy Atlas are on hand, and Pernell Whitaker and Mark Breland are tonight's studio guests with Brian Kenny. Atlas talks briefly about Angulo's TV-friendly style and Dirrell's attempt to come back from a bout with cancer.
First up is Sergei Ganjelashvili and Archie Ray Marquez in a four-round bout. The 20-year old Marquez is the attraction here.
Back in the studio, Kenny talks about the 25th anniversary of the great 1984 U.S. Olympic boxing team with Sweet Pea and Breland. Tessitore says seeing them makes him sad when he thinks about what Olympic boxing has become.
Ganjelashvili is certainly game, attacking with awkward looping punches. But Marquez does some serious damage to the body in Round 2 and he looks confident. He turns it on with power shots from both hands in the final minute of Round 3.
Both men make it to the final bell, and Marquez will go to a decision for the first time in his young pro career. The judges all turn in scores of 40-36, and Marquez wins by unanimous decision.
Kenny talks to the former Olympians in another studio segment. Breland tells a tale about his lone amateur loss, as he finished his amateur career with a 110-1 record.
Highlights are shown of Whitaker's semifinal and final bouts from the 1984 Games. Even back then Sweet Pea had ridiculous body and head movement. Whitaker says his gold medal meant more to him than anything he accomplished as a pro.
Now we see highlights of Breland's Olympic bouts. Brian and Mark discuss how there was some pressure on Breland before the Games, as he already had quite a reputation going in. He was just too tall and lanky for his opponents, plus he had skills and power to boot.
Andre Dirrell is in attendance to watch his younger brother, and we're set for that match. Anthony Dirrell takes on Alfredo Contreras, who took the fight on short notice.
Dirrell was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2006, and he talks a bit about overcoming the disease. He resumed fighting in late 2008, and is 5-0 since then and 17-0 (14 KOs) overall. This is scheduled for eight rounds at super middleweight.
Contreras tries to play the aggressor but Dirrell's hands are fast enough to land any time he sees an opening. Anthony can fight from either stance and tries both of them in the first round.
Andre is extremely vocal shouting out instructions and encouragement for his sibling. Anthony does a little showboating in the final minute of Round 2 after landing a nice combination in the corner.
Atlas doesn't like how Dirrell goes straight back with his hands down, but he's doing just about everything else right. Andre dons a headset and says he thinks Anthony is looking good. He does feel his brother could jab more and sit down on his punches as well.
Asked about the Super Six World Boxing Classic, Andre says he can't wait for it to start. He says he's faster and stronger than Carl Froch but knows The Cobra will bring everything he's got since he's a champion. Andre feels like he's training as hard as he can for the opportunity.
Dirrell smokes Contreras with a series of wicked body shots in the fifth round, then follows up with head shots from both hands. Contreras shows some heart by not wilting under fire.
About halfway through Round 7, Contreras catches Dirrell napping in the corner and actually lands a few nice shots. But Dirrell immediately comes back and starts teeing off with unanswered power shots, and though Contreras doesn't go down, the ref and his corner have seen enough. Dirrell wins by TKO at 2:32 of Round 7 and does a backflip to celebrate the win.
We get one more studio segment with BK, Sweet Pea and Breland. They examine highlights of Timothy Bradley-Nate Campbell and both fighters weigh in on the controversial ending. They also look at Devon Alexander-Junior Witter and Whitaker says he was glad the fight ended when it did.
The news recap includes Vitali Klitschko and Chris Arreola agreeing to fight in September, talks resuming for a Kelly Pavlik-Paul Williams fight in October and the possibility of Allan Green as a substitute for the World Boxing Classic should one be necessary.
Posted by The Franchise
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