Saudi Arabian Supercard Results
Saturday’s highly anticipated, Saudi Arabian hosted supercard got off to a quick start, as the first four fights all ended within the distance, two of those four within the first round. Things kicked off with the 23-0 heavyweight Frank Sanchez taking on the 20-2 Junior Fa in a scheduled 10 round affair. While it’s true the fight got off to a sluggish start, once Sanchez put the figurative pedal to the medal, he was able to wrap things up in style. Fa was dropped at the end of the six. He was able to make it to round seven, but Sanchez dropped him two more times, and the referee wisely stopped the fight.
Heavyweight Filip Hrgovic, 16-0, was up next, taking on a clearly overmatched Mark De Mori, 41-2-2, in a battle scheduled for 10. Suffice to say, the bout was total destruction. While it certainly looked like Hrgovic was landing some shots behind the head, there was no doubt De Mori was in over his head. Before the first was over, the man was turning his back on Hrgovic. The referee stopped the fight before the bell rang to stop the opening round.
The most recent match, however, exhibited an incredibly impressive talent, who was willing to relinquish his IBF cruiserweight title in order to confront his opponent on Saturday. The decision to surrender the belt turned out to be a wise one, as the undefeated Jai Opetaia (23-0) managed to knock out Ellis Zorro (17-0) in the very first round of the fight. Zorro was unable to beat the count, although there was no count to begin with. The referee simply deemed it best to stop the fight.
The following bout resulted in a surprising upset. Arslanbek Makhmudov, with a record of 18 wins and no losses, was highly regarded in the heavyweight division as he entered the ring to face Agit Kabayel (23-0) in a scheduled 10-round fight. However, the match did not make it past the fourth round. Kabayel effectively dismantled his slower opponent, knocking him down not once, not twice, but three times in the fourth round before the referee decided to call an end to the contest.
