Four advance to Boxcino junior middleweight semis
Four junior middleweights advanced to the semifinals of the Boxcino 2015 boxing tournament this weekend.
Brandon Adams, Vito Gasparyan, John Thompson and Stanyslav Skorokhod all won their quarterfinal matchups at the Mohegan Sun to move on to the April 3rd semis in Corona, Calif.
Adams, who was a Boxcino 2014 middleweight tournament runnerup, scored a fifth-round stoppage against Alex Perez in an entertaining slugfest. Both fought inside and landed some hard shots. Adams' speed proved to be the difference and in the fifth round he landed a hard right that sent Perez to the canvas. Perez got to his knees before the bout was stopped at 2:47.
"Alex was very tough. I appreciate the fight that he brought and it made me step up my game," said Adams (16-1, 11 KOs). "In the end, I loaded up my shots. I showed that I have the speed and I established the jab. I had a lot of fun in there. I am looking forward to the next fight. I am going, maybe I will take Monday off and I will be back in the gym."
Gasparyan scored a unanimous decision over previously unbeaten Simeon Hardy by being more active and outworking Hardy and forcing the battle on the inside against the taller fighter.
Gasparyan, of Glendale, Calif., raised his record to 15-3-5, while Hardy fell to 13-1. "It was a good fight. I proved that I belong at this level," Gasparyan said. "I am dedicating this victory to my trainer Justin Fortune who couldn't be here after just beating an illness."
Late replacement John Thompson boxed his way to a 6-round unanimous decision over Ricardo Pinell, using his height and reach to keep Pinell at bay. Thompson was effective with quick combinations that never allowed Pinell to get on track.
Thompson, of Newark, N.J., is now 6-1. Pinell, from San Francisco, fell to 10-2-1.
" I was able to know a little about him and I went off what I saw on youtube," said Thompson. "I saw he had a few bad habits. Now that I have time to prepare it will be a lot better. I know I have a lot to work on. I will take one week off and I will be back in the gym."
In the first fight of the night, Syanyslav Skorokhod scored a 4th round knockout against Michael Moore in a battle of undefeated fighters. By the second round, Skorokhod, from Ukraine, started to find the range with power shots with both hands. Towards the end of the round, he landed a hard right that backed Moore up to the corner. In the third, Skorohod dropped Moore with a right hand and did it again a round later. The bout was stopped at 1:03 of the fourth round.
Skorokhod is now 9-0 (7 KOs) while Moore, from Cleveland, dropped to 13-1.
Adams will meet Gasparyan and Skorokhod will fight Thompson on April 3.
The heavyweight quarterfinals are Friday on ESPN (9 p.m.)