Teon Kennedy (17-1-1) failed to impress in Atlantic City tonight, turning in a pedestrian effort in losing to Alejandro Lopez (22-2) by unanimous decision in their junior featherweight bout. Kennedy, who finished the fight with his right eye closed and badly cut, had no answers for Lopez’ hard, straight punches and could not cut the ring off on him. Lopez ali-shuffled, smiled and bolo punched his way to official scores of 117-111 twice and 115-113. The Queensberry Rules had it 117-111.
The first two rounds developed at a relaxed pace, with Kennedy ineffectively pressuring and Lopez seemingly unable to find his range. But once Lopez began to dial in his straight right in the third, it was all downhill for Kennedy. From then on, the Tijuana fighter seemed to land crisp, straight combinations at will, straight through Kennedy’s gloves.
By the 4th, Lopez knew he had it on lock and began to showboat. Kennedy never changed tactics, never cut off the ring and didn’t begin to let his hands go until the scintillating final round. Now Kennedy’s lost his 0 and his status as a future contender. Lopez, on the other hand, is now on the cusp of real contender status, and will certainly be asked back on TV after this performance.
On the televised undercard, Nazim Richardson’s nephew and pupil, lightweight Karl “Dynamite” Dargan (10-0) fought Juan “Bazooka AKA Taco Man” Suazo (8-5-3) in place of Matt Remillard and Aaron Garcia, whose fight was scratched because, according to promoter Russell Peltz, Remillard is “going to jail.”
Despite having the better nickname, “Taco Man” had no answers for Dargan’s slick defence and accurate straight right and left hook counters. The pattern was set midway through the 1st round, when Dargan, back to the ropes, landed a cheeky left hook that sent Suazo down, stumbling backwards to the canvas.
By midway through the 2nd, the “Taco Man” was covered in taco sauce, flowing from his nose and a cut over his right eye. The showcase continued until halfway through the 6th, when Suazo’s corner finally saw fit to pull the plug on their brave, battered charge. Dargan leaves the fight as a prospect to watch; it’ll be interesting to see how his slick defence works as he steps up in competition.
