By: William Holmes
ESPN Friday night fights took place at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, and the undercard started off with a bang.
Mongolian boxer Bayan Jargal (17-3-3) met with Chris Howard (14-2-1) took on Tennessee native Chris Howard (14-2-1) in the lightweight division. Jargal tried to use his size to bully Howard around, but Howard stood his ground and willingly exchanged with Jargal. Jargal focused on the body of Howard, and the first two rounds were closely contested.
In third round Howard flicked out two jabs and followed it with a straight right hand to the chin of Jargal. Jargal crumbled to the mat but and struggled to his feet before the count of ten. But he was still visibly wobbly and the referee called off the fight. Howard wins by an impressive TKO at 1:46 of round three.
Antonio Marrero (0-0) and Enver Halili (2-0) fought next in the junior middleweight division. This bout turned out to be a highly entertaining about. Halili had an extensive amateur background and his superior technique showed during their exchanges, but Marrero continued to try and come forward while being tagged by Halili. Halili landed some very hard stuff right uppercuts and lightning quick combinations, but Marrero to his credit somehow managed to stay on his feet.
Halili looks like a young promising boxer to keep a close eye on. He won the decisions with scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards.
The main event of the night was between Native American George Tahdooahnippah (31-0-1) and Connecticut native Delvin Rodriguez (26-6-3) in the junior middleweight division. Tahdooahnippah has rarely fought outside of his home state of Oklahoma, but he certainly had a flashy entrance and he had a live rap group escort him to the ring.
Tahdooahnippah however was never in the fight. Rodriguez battered Tahdooahnippah for six rounds and clearly dominated the fight. It was nearly stopped in the second round, and there was confusion at its end when the referee thought the ringside doctor had stopped it. It should have been stopped at that point.
Rodriguez continued to pummel Tahdooahnippah for four additional rounds, and the referee finally stopped the fight after another brutal combination by Rodriguez had Tahdooahnippah wobbly by the ropes.
Rodriguez ends Tahdooahnippah’s undefeated run with a TKO victory at 2:41 of round six.