Heather Hardy tops Shelly Vincent by majority decision in televised women's bout
Sunday was a big day for women's boxing in America.
In Rio De Janeiro, Claressa Shields, from Flint, Mich., won her second consecutive Olympic gold medal to become the first U.S. fighter, male or female, to win multiple gold medals.
Far away, at Ford Amphitheater at Coney Island, N.Y., Brooklyn's Heather Hardy remained undefeated with a hard-fought majority decision against Shelly Vincent, handing Vincent her first loss. It was the first women's bout televised on NBCSN.
The action was non-stop from the start as Vincent charged in early, looking to close the distance between her and the taller Hardy. Hardy moved around the ring more, looking for the right distance to attack the Providence, R.I., native.
"This is definitely a win for women's boxing," said Hardy (18-0, 4 KOs). "We kept up a great pace throughout and the fans were invested the whole time.
"Every time she crowded me, she would get off more punches. I wanted to keep the fight on the outside and when I did that I had a lot of success."
Hardy's movement allowed her to create more angles for her attack as she varied her offense with overhand rights, jabs and hooks. Vincent was consistent countering, with her left hand finding the most success.
Hardy threw 752 punches while Vincent threw 678 over the 10 two-minute rounds. Hardy connected on 251 punches to 194 for Vincent.
"I thought I won the fight pretty convincingly," said Hardy. "She only really caught me a few times the whole fight. I knew I had to be tactical to win the fight. Judging by the belt around my waist, I would rate my performance a 10."
The judges ruled it for Hardy by scores of 99-91, 97-93 and 95-95. Vincent (18-1, 1 KO) believed she did enough to win the fight.
"I definitely thought I won the fight," said Vincent. "I was coming forward and I landed the bigger shots. Everyone saw the fight.
"I got head-butted all night long. I came here and everybody told me I'd get robbed. I'll take the rematch but I'm not playing by these rules. I want her to come up to Providence."
Marrero wins: In the main event of the NBCSN card, featherweight contender Claudio Marrero (21-1, 15 KOs) scored a fourth-round technical knockout of fellow Dominican Republic-native Luis Hinojosa (28-10, 17 KOs).
"This is how champions perform," said Marrero. "They do it smart and they figure out their opponents quickly. Regardless of his record, you have to figure it out and then go for the finish."
Marrero was in control from the opening bell, putting Hinojosa on the mat with a right hand early in the first round. Hinojosa tried to keep himself in the fight by throwing primarily power punches. However, it was Marrero who was much sharper in that department, landing 60% of his power punches to 24% from Hinojosa.
In the fourth-round Marrero's power and style proved to be too much as he consistently beat Hinojosa to the punch on his way three knockdowns. The final knockdown forced referee Danny Schiavone to stop the bout at 2:55 of the round.
(Photo of Hardy, right, and Vincent, by Ed Diller, DiBella Entertainment)