Ardreal Holmes Jr. from Flint, Michigan, kept his winning streak alive, now boasting a 15-0 record with 6 knockouts, after he sent Marlon Harrington from Detroit packing with a decisive second-round victory in Detroit. The fight, which was the main event at the first “Big Time Boxing USA” bash and live-streamed for all to see, saw Holmes, with his towering 6′ 2″ stance and left-handed prowess, play it cool in the first round before unleashing a storm in the second.
Holmes, who almost made it to the Olympics in 2016, caught Harrington off-guard with a series of sharp lefts that sent him to the canvas three times, prompting the referee to call it a day just over a minute into round two. This left the local fans in quite the muddle, as their man Harrington was out for the count.
Holmes wasn’t shy about admitting the win was all part of the plan, although even he was surprised by how quickly he wrapped things up. It was his first time defending the USBA title since he nabbed it the previous June.
Meanwhile, in the co-feature of the evening, Ali Izmaylov, hailing from Russia but now a Detroit local and Miami trainee, maintained his unbeaten record by stopping Britton Norwood in the fourth round, improving his record to 12-0. The fight saw Norwood hit the deck in the second round thanks to a body shot and then again in the fourth, before a left hook had him in all sorts of trouble, leading to the fight being stopped at 1:28.
Joseph Hicks Jr., another Michigan native and a figure of the 2020 US Olympic Team, managed to keep his unbeaten record intact by overcoming Ricardo Ruben Villalba from Argentina. Villalba started strong, but Hicks turned the tables in the third round with a body shot, repeating the dose in the fourth to end the fight within 42 seconds.
The evening kicked off with Da’Velle Smith, a 23-year-old from Inkster, Michigan, being pushed to the limit by the experienced Rolando Wenceslao Mansilla from Argentina. Despite Mansilla’s resilience, Smith’s youth and speed secured him a unanimous decision victory after six rounds.
The surprise package of the night came in the form of a featherweight clash, where Cameran Pankey from Pontiac, Michigan, faced his first defeat against the underdog Juan Hernandez Martinez from Mexico. Despite Pankey’s best efforts in the later rounds, Martinez’s early dominance and a critical knockdown secured him a unanimous decision win.
