NEW YORK CITY — Keep checking back here for running undercard results from ringside for the Cotto vs Geale undercard, leading into Saturday’s HBO main event between Miguel and Daniel.
Dustin Fleischer vs. Kareem Milner — Welterweight
Entering the ring with the support of the local crowd, Dustin Fleischer (1-0) came out swinging against his hapless foe, Kareem “The Dream” Milner (1-1), who couldn’t seem to wake up from the sustained terror foisted upon him by Fletcher along the ropes. The end to his nightmare came swiftly at 1:06 of the 1st round to heckles from the partisan crowd watching the New Jersey native improve to 2-0. He did it with an impressive mix of head and body work to freeze Milner and force the referee to step in after half a minute of unanswered assault.
Junior Younan vs. Mike Sawyer — Light Heavyweight
Undefeated Junior Younan (6-0) stepped into face the one must assume ironically named Mike “Money” Sawyer (6-3). The modest Younan, (above right via Roc Nation) peeled off a yellow shirt that read “Future Legend,” stormed out and made his case against a wildly outgunned opponent. Red-faced and worked over within 20 seconds, Sawyer (above left) beat a count after a vicious barrage had sent him to the mat. He somehow lasted the 1st round and showed real grit in round 2, exchanging wildly in spots before a seemingly innocuous hook put him down and signaled the beginning of the end. The ringside physician jumped to the apron during a Younan combination that had Sawyer’s knees buckling and implored the referee to stop it, which the referee did with 30 seconds left in the 2nd round. Younan improves to 7-0 with 6 KOs.
Zhang Zhilei vs. Glen Thomas — Heavyweight
Gargantuan 262-pound Zhang Zhilei (3-0) dwarfed Glen Thomas, who came in as a more traditionally-sized bruiser at 215 lbs. for their four-round bout. The Olympic silver medalist from China, Zhilei threw with thudding power to live up to his nickname “Big Bang” and punished Thomas all four rounds on his way to a points victory. Thomas put up little fight as he faced an opponent with a 50-pound advantage. Zhilei improved to 4-0 and will likely continue to build an undefeated record against no-hopers until a belt opportunity is available.
Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. vs. Fernando Vargas — Featherweights
Offering chief support to the main event, Puerto Rican Wilfredo Vazquez jr. (24-4-1) stepped in against Fernando Vargas (28-9-2) in what would be a well-matched but tepid match that failed to provide as much action for the first three rounds.
The end of the 4th saw both men finally landing well with sweat flying in all directions as they took turns laying on the ropes, but soon thereafter the fight returned to a steady but unremarkable pace.
An appearance by Gennady Golovkin ringside garnered more reaction than the goings on in the ring, as the middleweight titleholder posed with excited fans while the two combatants did their best to close out the 8th and final round with energy, making it the most exciting round of an otherwise sleeper bout.
The judges turned in scorecards awarding the victory to Vargas in a mild but not controversial upset who improves to 25-4-1.
