Vlad Panin stretched his victory conga line to 11 straight at the “Owl’s Hangout” in Houston, toppling Quashawn Toler with a unanimous nod from the judges (97-93, 96-94, 98-92) to snatch the WBA Continental Welterweight crown at Red Owl Boxing’s BOX FEST VII on DAZN.
The first three rounds started very slow, but then things spiced up in the fourth with Toler trying to bulldoze his way through and Panin flipping the script halfway through. The bout morphed into a tactical tango, with Toler playing the waiting game and Panin sniffing around for a crack in the armor. Panin, hailing from Belarus and now throwing punches in LA, was a tad busier, jabbing his way through and sidestepping Toler’s comebacks.
In the final stretch, Panin shifted gears, sticking to his trusty jab and throwing in some head and body music for good measure. The judges were all in on “Superbad,” who’s now eyeing a climb up the 147-pound ladder.
“We just won the Continental strap,” Panin declared. “Next stop, the Intercontinental, then maybe a title eliminator showdown, and fingers crossed, a world title bout.”
In the evening’s co main, Houston’s own Breyon “Grindtime” Gorham (16-0, 13 KOs) danced with danger but kept his flawless record, edging out Wilfredo Flores in a super lightweight scrap that had fans on their toes. Flores landed a sneaky right in the first, sending Gorham to the mat for a professional first. Gorham, however, didn’t break a sweat, bouncing back and using his zip and hops to land heavy blows. “Grindtime” turned up the heat in the last rounds, sealing the deal with the judges all seeing it 78-73 in his favor.
Earlier, light heavyweight Edel Gomez (9-0-1, 8 KOs) kept his win train rolling, delivering a second-round KO to James Weismann. Gomez, a sparring buddy of Terence Crawford, came out swinging, dropping Weismann in the first and finishing the job with a nasty right in the second.
Kicking off the main card, Jose Camacho Torres (8-0-1, 3 KOs) stayed unbeaten, outclassing Luis Alberto Lopez in a super bantamweight showdown. Torres, another Crawford gym mate, was all about the timing, mixing head and body shots to keep Lopez at bay. Despite a nine-year break, Lopez wasn’t just there to make up the numbers, but Torres had the judges’ nod with scores of 59-55, 59-55, 58-56.
Shawn Porter, a two-time world champ, and globetrotting commentator Corey Erdman were on the mics, with Lupe Contreras doing the ring honors and Sofia Gutierrez giving the home crowd the scoop as Red Owl Boxing’s wandering reporter.
If you missed the live action, fear not. DAZN’s got the whole four-fight fiesta on-demand for subscribers.
