By: Sean Crose
ShoBox returned to the Turning Stone Resort and Casino Friday night with a three fight card featuring six undefeated fighters. The evening started with the 10-0 Clay Waterman battling the 10-0-1 Kenman Evans in a scheduled 8 rounder at heavyweight. Maintaining range, Evans had a strong first round. The much shorter Waterman, however, began closing the distance in the second. Evans got rocked in the third. He wasn’t too badly hurt, but Waterman was able to land on him at times throughout the round. Now confident, Waterman pushed the action in the fourth.
By the fifth, Waterman was well in control. Evans needed to make something happen. He tried, to be sure, but Waterman was able to continue landing in the sixth. Evans had a better seventh, but got caught well in the final thirty seconds. The eighth and final round saw Evans go down, but not from a punch. He was clearly exhausted, but got to his feet and fought on gamely. Still, the fight belonged to Waterman, who earned in an impressive decision win.
Next up, light heavyweight Juan Carrillo, 10-0, squared off against the Richard Vansiclin, 13-0-1, in a bout scheduled for 10. Carrillo began applying pressure right away. The man controlled the tempo in the first two rounds of the fight. Vansiclin went down from a right in the third, but quickly got back up. It looked like a one way fight until, in the fourth, Vansiclin put his man down with a surprising and impressive combo. Carrillo beat the count, but was clearly hurt.
Carrillo went back on offense in the fifth. Although he had been hurt, he simply appeared to be the fighter with the greater amount of confidence. With that being said, Vansiclin was able to land more frequently than he had been in the sixth. Carrillo looked a bit gassed in the seventh. Each man threw and landed effectively in the eighth. Carrillo was clearly running on empty in the ninth, yet he still fought well.
The tenth and final round saw each man firing away, determined to win. It had been an exciting fight, one which was now ending in high style. With that being said, the nod went to Carrillo via majority decision.
It was time for the main event. The 10-0 Ali Izmailov took on the 22-0 Charles Foster in a heavyweight throwdown scheduled for 10. Izmailov came out aggressively in the first. Yet it was Foster who began impressing in the second by maintaining range and effectively flicking out his jab. Izamilov appeared to be unable to dominate his man in the third. The fourth saw Foster remaining confident in his defense, as Izmailov was unable to do any real damage. While Foster still frustrated him in the fifth, Izmailov was able to knock Foster down in he final seconds of the round. Foster, however, was able to beat the count.
Foster, who appeared to complain if a hurt shoulder in between rounds, was rather sluggish in the sixth. Foster took to hitting and holding in the seventh, though he was rightly warned by the referee for hitting behind the head. The eighth round was close, with each fighter landing well. The ninth was fast paced, with each man falling onto the canvas thanks to a tie-up. There was little doubt, however, that each fighter was giving it his all. The tenth and final round was a question of wills, as both men tried dominating through their respective styles – Izmailov by roughing his opponent up and Foster by hitting clean and holding.
Ultimately, the judges ruled in favor of Izmailov via unanimous decision.