Former WBA Super 140lbs king Regis Prograis appeared to KO Ivan Redkach with a legitimate body shot, only for the Ukrainian to stay down claiming an illegal blow, before the ex-champion was awarded an unsatisfying six-round technical decision win at the Triller Fight Club event at the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Saturday night.
The ringside doctor agreed that the Ukrainian was unfit to continued and Redkach was carried off on a stretcher. Back in the ring, Prograis was pronounced a technical decision winner by scores of 60-54 (twice) and 59-54 in a weird finale.
Southpaw Prograis (26-1, 21 KOs) had hurt Redkach in the second and opened up a cut over the Ukrainian’s eye. He proceeded to batter his overmatched foe with heavy left hands in one-sided third and fourth rounds before taking a breather in the fifth. When Prograis landed a legal-looking right hook downstairs in the sixth, Redkach apparently chose to end the fight on his own terms.
Youtube star turned cruiserweight Jake Paul (3-0, 3 KOs) added to his fighting legitimacy with a one-round stoppage of former UFC and ONE MMA fighter Ben Askren (0-1, 0 KOs).
Paul set up a big right hand with a jab that sent Askren down inside two minutes of the opener. He beat the count before a lingering Paul was waved back to a neutral corner by referee Brian Stutts, but the fight was eventually waved off with Askren still on unsteady legs.
California-based Paul is showing fight-on-fight improvement and brings undeniable star power to boxing, whether the purists like it or not.
Photo: Triller Fight Club.
Meanwhile, former IBF cruiserweight champion Steve Cunningham (30-9-1, 13 KOs) returned after a near four-year hiatus to log a six-round verdict over ex-UFC star and debutant Frank Mir. Scores were 60-54 (twice) and 58-56.
Main image and all photos: Triller Fight Club.