Undercard Results From Thurman-Lopez Card

Claudio Marrero met Tug Nyambayar in a WBC world featherweight title eliminator in the first of three bouts presented on FOX, from Barclays Center on Saturday night.

We saw pockets of action which moved the crowd, but both fought mostly with the knowledge that the other man was no bum, and could mess up their wiring.

Marrero came in 23-2 and Tug 11-0. It was Dominican Republic versus Mongolia, and while early it looked maybe his accuracy would lead to a KO, Marrero stayed true to his craft, and hung tight. Rounds were close and so no one had a strong idea what the cards would read..

After 12 rounds–115-113, 115-112, 116-111, for “King Tug” Nyambayar. Everyone best get better at knowing how to pronounce his name.

In the first, the righty “King Tug” pawed a jab. The DR lefty was patient and assessed his foe.

In the second, the lefty got busier. The distance shortened for both….

In the third, Tug got nastier. He put combos together, but a lead right wobbled Marrero.

In the fourth, Marrero seemed without a strong game plan, because Tug’s hand speed and shot selection were worrying him. The tone got a bit chippier as Marrero hit almost behind the head.

In the fifth, we saw Tug moving right, into the straight left of Marrero. To 6–Marrero made him miss, but not pay. In the seventh, the match had the same tone. Not desultory at all, but a bit paint by numbers. Neither man’s passion erupted and told the fans that he was now to be the one pull away.

In round 8, we saw Marrero buzz Tug. But he collected his senses and finished the round just fine. In the ninth, and the tenth, to start, Marrero picked up his pace. His corner had told him this was close, try to elevate your game. Then he had a point deducted, for a foul, by Benjy Esteves. Tug then scored with sharp fires, and then, more drama, he went low. He got his groin good, then went to work, and won the round.

To 11; tight round, as all were. Two sharpies at work…We saw Marrero maybe come off as the busier aggressor, and take the round. The 12th–we saw Marrero get dirty on a clinch but no point taken. Tug got busier, looking to take it to Marrero, and he had more fans present, so when he got busy, the joint jumped some.

Chris Colbert came to the ring with shocking pink hair, and he kept on doing what he needed to do to get attention at Barclays Center on Jan. 26. Colbert aka Lil B Hopp, downed Josh Hernandez of Illinois, via UD8, in a most useful outing, for his development.

79-73, times three, the judges saw Lil B Hopp the busier and more effective boxer.

In the first, the hand speed and slickness edge for Colbert was apparent. Same in the second and third. The loser got more defensive, knowing he’d need to concentrate on that to make the final bell. Colbert went back and forth, lefty and righty, and in the third, he landed a loopy right. The crowd appreciated it. His snappy jab did well to set the table for him and also keep Hernandez from getting into a rythm. A right uppercut did too…

To the fourth; Hernandez was told in between rounds that he needed to be aggressive to have any hope of winning. He charged harder at Colbert, and that left him open for sharp counters. In the fifth, caught in a corner, on purpose, Colbert flurried and the crowd dug it. They liked the infighting, the scrum scenario, from the slickster. They traded to end the sixth, and whaddya know, the loser got his licks in.

To 7; Colbert worked off the ropes and had fun being slick and making him miss and then firing a short shot to make him pay. To the eighth–Hernandez was fighting Chicago style. He was plugging away, not conceding to recent history, and while not winning, giving a decent account of himself. And he did…we went to the cards. His face told us what the ending chapter would read–Hernandez was a bit lumped up.

“He put up a great fight,” Colbert said after. “Today I decided not to give the crowd a boxing lesson, I decided I wanted to show them that I can stand and fight with anybody if I choose to. We’re going to keep making these fights easier and easier. I have very high-quality fight and I’m getting better and better as we go. I’m looking forward to getting more opportunities.”

In the first bout which ran on the FS1 prelims, Chordale Booker of Stamford, CT, 13-0 entering, met 21-9 Juan De Angel from Colombia at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, on Saturday, Jan. 26, 2019.

The CT boxer stayed smart and defensively aware as he looked to bang away at the underdog. Booker got a knockdown in the 7th and after 8, we heard the cards: 80-71, 80-71, 79-72, for the CT based boxer.

This tango was the sixth bout on a 13 fight card, put together by the PBC people. Al Haymon heads up PBC, and they have a grande output deal with FOX.

The lefty Booker looked fit, dialed in, sharp, and in the third of scheduled 8, or less, he gave and also got. The Colombia was here to earn a check, and make Booker work to stay undefeated.

Booker does well to change levels, dip down, chin tucked but eyes up, and he has a nice patience about him. To a knee went the loser, in the 7th; he finished the round, fatigued but proud. A left hook surgically placed to the body had him take a knee. To the 8th; Booker stalked, pressed harder to have his aggression pay dividends. He got tagged, a counter left, as he re-set his feet, so yes, the Colombian still had some wits about him late in the game.

“I’m about to make a list of fighters that I want to face to propel me to the next level,” Booker said after. “I’m going to keep climbing and fighting better opponents. I thought I had a good performance today, but not great. I feel like I showed that I have a lot I can do in this sport. We always work on attacking the body, ever since I’ve started. I’ve always been a good body puncher and get great leverage on those punches.”

Antuanne Russell of Maryland went to 8-0, downing Roberto Almazan of Mexico in the seventh bout of the night at Barclays Center.

In round one, the crowd ahhh’d, hearing the pop on the shots of Russell. The super lightweight lefty has fast hands, likes to get an angle and then rip. And rip he did, right hooks to the head. That ended the night for the Mexican, 59 seconds into round two.

“I listened to my corner’s directions and they told me that the hook was going to be there when he shot his left hand. I went to my hook position and I was ready to catch and fire,” Russell said after. “This is nothing new to me. I just try to execute what I’m told and sharpen my craft. We’re going back to the drawing board and we’ll be patient.”

Mycheal Teal of Florida went to 2-0 with a KO1 win over 0-3 Jacob Landin. For the record, doors opened at 3 PM and the first fight went off at 3:30 PM et.

Will Deets scored a solid uspet with a KO4 win over Marsellos Wilder, now 3-1. Deontay’s lil bro, age 29, got a late start in the game and now has met a rude roadblock. Deets is a Nebraskan, and he now has a solid scalp on his resume, after getting the better of this cruiserweight faceoff.

Maryland’s Tyrek Irby beat Jon Figueroa (2-2) via UD, in a clash of 147s.

Maryland’s Mark Duncan (3-0) won via a TKO3 over Dan Flores (0-3), flown in from New Mexico.

Stephen Fulton scored a TKO5 win and went to 15-0. He’s from PA; loser Marlon Olea (13-4) also jetted in from Colombia.