Akhmedov Gets TKO Victory; MADRIMOV Scores TKO6 W; Conwell Downs Pennington; Ceballo Snags W

Ali Akhmedov met Marcus McDaniel, with the WBC International super middleweight title up for grabs, in the last fight before the Gennady Golovkin vs. Steve Rolls main event at Madison Square Garden on Saturday evening.

Ali was 167.4, hailing from Kazakhstan and MM was 168, and calling New Orleans home.

Ali Akhmedov stopped Marcus McDaniel on June 8, 2019, and on DAZN.

McDaniel was showing some slicks and smarts, and then a right hand buzzed him. He backed up, slipped some shots, but not enough. He went to a knee, beat the count, but then showed himself to be on bad legs, causing the ref to end the matter, in the third.

In the first, Ali’s height edge stood out, as did his aggression, as MM scooted away. Down went MM, but not off a punch. MM smacked back with a left after eating a sharp right, trying to send the message that he’d not be caving in.

In the second, MM jabbed, and slid left, looked to clinch when appropriate, looked to throw a counter right. His jab was snappy, and he was maybe getting more comfortable, not minding standing close. Maybe he’d gauged the Ali power and figured he could handle it, see it coming…

In the third, Ali swarmed, and the crowd got happy. MM was on the ropes, defending…but he went to his knees. He turned away, walked to his corner, and the ref said no mas.

Benji Esteves saw the loser on drunken legs, sort of trying to seem sober, walking to his corner…and correctly said no more.

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Israil Madrimov went to 3-0, with 3 KOs, as he stopped out game Norberto Gonzalez in round six of a set for ten or less junior middle scrap at MSG on Saturday night.

Madrimov won every round, switching righty to lefty and the end came when a right buzzed the loser. The Uzbek boxer then threw ten or twelve unanswered shots and the ref halted it. 49 seconds had elapsed, for the record.

This was the third time the 24-13 Gonzalez had been stopped; was he hurt by the fact that he’d gone eight rounds just nine days before? Only he knows.

Madrimov had his way with Gonzalez on June 8, 2019, at Madison Square Garden in NY.

Charles Conwell went to 13-0 (7 KOs), as he downed Courtney Pennington, who entered at one of those records boasted by a solid journeyman, 12-3-3 (5 KOs).

The USBA 154 junior middleweight crown was up for grabs, with Conwell, who’d been off for eight months,  repping Ohio.

Pennington gave a solid account of himself; he mixed movement and respectable volume, and he kept that work rate up. But the cleaner and harder shots were landed by the 2016 Olympian Conwell, and he won by scores of 97-92, 97-92, 96-93.

“The other guy made it very ugly,” said Conwell’s promoter, Lou DiBella, after the effort.

Yes, Conwell had to work the whole ten, and yes, he leaves the city with a better idea of what he’ll have to work on to keep climbing that ladder.

Charles Conwell is a junior middleweight prospect from Ohio.

In the first, we saw CP deliver a right hand whack to the body that thudded, as Conwell stalked. Conwell’s body work thudded louder, though.

In the second, we heard “Don’t dip down, Court,” as Conwell got to work and exerted a power and aggression edge. Now, CP was backing up more, but he was moving pretty smartly, showing that maybe he deserved to win in one of those three losses. Not a slouch…

In the third, we saw CP look to get some work done underneath. He looked to be first some, too. Conwell ramped up the aggression, and his work rate was solid. The crowd buzzed as Conwell landed some heavy metal late.

To round four…CP popped and moved. Counter rights from Conwell, though, were speedier, sharper. He stalked, he edged forward, waited out CP, and then looked to throw thunder. To the fifth, we saw Conwell look to close distance even more. His stalking was revved up, and he had to avoid the CP counters, and respond to feints. Ref Art Mercante took a point from Pennington, for holding.

In the sixth, Conwell and CP were center ring, and since the distance closed, we had more back and forth.

In round 7, we heard the CP corner asking for more volume. He tried, throwing as he backed up, but that lost him some pop. His hand speed wasn’t in Conwell’s zone, but he was throwing, as the round closed. In the eighth, Conwell got backed up some, and if had expected some of the energy of Pennington to lag, by now, he’d have been disappointed.

To round 9–a right cross by Conwell caught Courtney backing out. The quickness surprised him. A scratch under Pennington’s left eye bore watching. To the tenth round..Pennington proved himself to have done the right amount of roadwork, he was still busy. He was hacking to the body and yes, Conwell was too. But I’m thinking maybe the winner left that ring with heavier respect for his foe, and a better understanding of how hard he’d have to work to keep elevating in the game.

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Brian Ceballo took a step up, in theory, and we wondered how he’d handle power puncher Bakhityar Eyubov in their junior middleweight tussle at MSG, underneath the GGG versus Steve Rolls.

It turns out, well enough. Ceballo went to 9-0, as he used ring generalship, and the now 14-1-1 Kazahk-born boxer wasn’t able to impose a supposed power edge. After eight rounds, by scores of 80-72, 79-73, 78-74, the Brooklyner heard the cheers of friends and neighbors after offering a quite solid exhibition of the sweet science.

Early on, Eyubov figured he could catch the Brooklyn boxer. He bore in, winging shots, and Ceballo was elusive. In the fifth, Ceballo was timing him ncely, catching him falling in. The Joe Frazier dipped chin and leaping left hook from Eyubov, Ceballo did have to be mindful. We saw a rare jab from the loser, and yes, he was staying stubborn but Ceballo was being defensively mindful.

Short shots, they paid off for the winner. He was getting angles, mixing lefts and rights, low and high, taking rounds. Into round 7–Ceballo was happy to stand close, because E’s hand speed wasn’t worrying him. They traded late and the crowd dug it. Eyubov is a bit of a caveman type, he doesn’t worry too much when he’s squared up, he sort of is what he is, by now.

Ceballo putting the heat on, and swithching stances, had the crowd buzzed, in the eighth. He wanted to give his fans a jolt to close it out. We’d go to the cards…

The winner…

Brian Ceballo is now 9-0, after beating Eyubov in NYC.

..said he was told that he’d need to go in tough if he wanted to be on this card. He told Chris Mannix after that he wanted this, he’d had over 200 amateur fights and he knew he’d be able to handle this sort of escalation.