With boxing action still sparse due to the ongoing impact of Covid-19, Showtime’s first event of 2021 was a welcome distraction from a daily dose of bad news.
On a ShoBox: The New Generation card on Wednesday night, 140-pounder Mykquan Williams trumped fellow unbeaten Yeis Solano in a keenly contested affair at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut. Scores were 96-93 (twice) and 97-92.
Fighting in his home state, East Hartford’s Williams (16-0-1, 7 KO) stifled the aggressive Solano with his greater speed and movement. Colombian southpaw Solano (15-1, 10 KOs) worked the body well, but the 22-year-old Williams sealed victory with an eighth-round knockdown, courtesy of a right hand to the shoulder.
Photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.
Solano was initially credited with a knockdown after a tangle of legs in the 10th and deducted a point for a low blow in the same session, but both calls were rescinded after replays.
“The judges definitely got it right,” said Williams. “I thought I landed the bigger, sharper shots for sure. I let him do a little too much though. He was shooting that straight left a lot, but I was catching most of them. He didn’t land too much.
“I would give myself a seven or eight out of 10. I could have done a lot more. The first couple rounds were good but in the middle of the fight, I kind of let him back in. But I adjusted and picked it back up and got my second wind in the latter rounds.
“It was definitely important not to just get the win but to look good doing it. I’ve been off for 15 months and this is a big platform to fight on. It’s my first televised fight so I thought it was important to look good and showcase my skills.”
Photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.
In the co-main event at 130lbs, Panamanian Jose Nunez (11-0-2, 4 KOs) and Armenian Aram Avagyan (10-0-2, 4 KOs) held on to their unbeaten records with a majority eight-round draw. Scores were 76-76 (twice) overruling a 77-75 nod for Nunez.
Avagyan brought a steady drip of pressure though Nunez appeared to do enough with his stellar body work.
Photo: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.
“There was no justice tonight,” claimed Nunez. “It’s not fair. I won the first four rounds and closed out the last one as well. I executed the game plan really well. I knew he was a tough opponent, so I needed to slow him down by attacking the body and that’s exactly what I did.
“I’m not interested in a rematch if it’s going to be another draw. It was a tough fight, but I already proved that I’m the better fighter. He was not the toughest opponent I’ve faced because the truth is that I feel like I won. At the very least, I very clearly won five rounds.”
Avagyan countered: “I definitely did enough to get the win. It doesn’t make sense to me. He never hurt me. I got hit with some body shots, but I blocked everything. Every big shot he threw, he missed. I thought I fought a good fight and deserved the win. I’m not interested in a rematch if it’s going to be judged like that. If it’s going to be fair, then yes, I would fight him again.”
Main image and all photos: Amanda Westcott/Showtime.