On a night of boxing presented by Probox Promotions, WBA World Super Featherweight Champion Lamont Roach (25-1-1) returned to his hometown of Washington, DC and earned a victory over “Fearless” Feargal McCrory (16-1) in the first defense of his title.
The challenger showed grit, passion and determination in his first attempt at the title, refusing to give up and winning several rounds along the way before the bout was stopped in the eighth round.
The event, held at the Entertainment and Sports Arena, was a homecoming for Roach, but it was anything but easy. McCrory, fuelled by the roaring support of the visiting crowd, refused to let up on the pressure, perhaps to his detriment. Roach was particularly successful with his hooks, and his punches stunned the Irishman on multiple occasions.
Roach began to have success defeating his relentless challenger from the third round onwards, scoring one in the third round and two in the fourth, but the referee intervened in the eighth round, despite McCrory beginning to show his strength.
The win puts Roach firmly in the running for a unification bout, with WBC champion Oshaquie Foster (22-2) now clearly his priority.
Guatemalan fighter Lester Martinez (18-0) showed he’s worthy of a big fight in his unanimous decision win over Olympic medalist Carlos Góngora (22-3). At just 28 years old, Martinez has plenty of time to give any contender in the super middleweight division a tough fight, especially with another dominant performance like this one.
Meanwhile, Góngora refused to go down despite the blistering power of Martinez's right hand, and hopefully this isn't the end for Góngora, who has only lost to fighters higher in his weight class.
Manchester native Alex Dirmagani (20-3-1) was upset by the retirement of Mexico's Rene Telles Giron (20-3-1). Giron, who plays in a traditional Mexican style, dominated the Manchester native.
Dilmagani struggled to cope despite spending a lot of time in Mexico, surrendering in the seventh round of the 10-round bout. Given the size of ProBox TV today, Giron has definitely made his presence felt and will likely return to appear on more shows with the promotion.
As many expected, Liana Rios (8-0), who has a strong amateur track record, showed what she was made of in her matchup against former Spanish title challenger Marie Romero (10-6), thoroughly out-maneuvering the Spaniard and winning by unanimous decision in the eight-round bout.
Slowly working her way up into the top 10 in the bantamweight division, Rios is capable of going toe-to-toe with the best, with the likes of Terumi Nuki (15-5) and Amanda Gale (10-0-1) in her future.
So ProBox Promotions put on a fantastic night from the heart of Washington DC, featuring a variety of exciting performances.
