By Ken Hissner: At the Montreal Casino, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Friday on ESPN+ Camille Estephan (Eye of the Tiger Management) appeared in the main event The Boxing Federation and Association of America Heavyweight Champion North Arslanbek “Lion” Makhmudov defended his titles, scoring a pair of knockdowns, but former IBF Intercontinental champion Carlos Takam held his own for the vacant IBF Intercontinental title in ten rounds.
In the Main Event, NABA and NABF Heavyweight Champion Arslanbek “Lion” Makhmudov, 15-0 (14), #263.3, of Russia and Montreal Quebec, CAN, defeated former WBC Silver Champion Carlos Takam, 39-7 -1 (28), #261.4, from Cameroon and Henderson, NV, in ten rounds scoring a pair of knockdowns.
Twenty seconds into the first round, Makhmudov dropped Takam with a right to the chin, received a count of 8 from referee Michael Griffin but made it to the end of the round. In the second and third rounds, Takam seemed to weather the storm of the knockdown, scoring well in the third.
In the fourth round, Takam did well enough to take the round, outboxing Makhmudov with some wild shots. In the fifth round, Takam appeared to frustrate the much larger Makhmudov.
In the closing seconds of the sixth round, an overhand right hand to the chin from Takam stunned Makhmudov. In the final seconds of the seventh round, Takam missed a right hand and ended up on the ropes when Makhmudov landed a right hand to the side of the head, dropping him for a count of 8 from referee Griffin.
In the eighth round, referee Griffin warned Makhmudov for rough tactics. In the ninth round, Takam continued to outplay the much larger Makhmudov.
In the tenth and final round, a Takam right to Makhmodov’s chin twenty seconds into the round stopped the latter in his tracks. Takam seemed to exploit the undefeated Russian.
The scores were 96-92, 97-91 and 96-92, with this writer 94-94.
NABF middleweight champion Steven “Bang Bang” Butler, 31-3-1 (26), #160, of Montreal, CAN, stopped southpaw Mark “The Bazooka” DeLuca, 28-4 (16), # 159, from Whitman, MASS, at 1:59 in the second round of a scheduled ten.
In the first round, Butler had a lead. At the midpoint of the second round, Butler landed a pair of rights to the chin and DeLuca went down for a count of 8 by referee Steve St. Germain. As he got up, his legs were shaking and referee Germain wisely ordered him to stop.
Featherweight southpaw Martine Vallieres Bisson, 5-2 (1), #124.5, from Ville Lemoyne, Quebec, CAN, lost to Emma “Valkyria” Gongora, 5-2 (0), #124.8, from Marseille, Bouches- du-Rhone, FR, more than 6×2 rounds.
In the second round, a right hand from Góngora dropped Bisson for a count of 8 from referee Martin Forest. In the third round, after three warnings for hitting behind the head, Góngora lost a point.
In the fourth and fifth rounds, Góngora had a bloody nose but had two good rounds. In the sixth and final round, Góngora controlled but Referee Forest deducted another point, which was questionable.
The scores were 57-54 twice and 58-54 with the writer’s 57-53.
Super Feather Lefty Thomas “The Ghost” Chabot, 7-0 (7), #127.8, of Thetford Mines, Quebec, CAN, stopped Armando Ramirez, 3-2 (0), #126, of El Grullo, Jalisco, MEX , at 1:24 of the second round of a 6-round schedule scoring three knockdowns.
In the first round, Chabot landed a solid left hand to the body with a minute remaining for a count of 8 from referee Martin Forest. In the second round, after a minute, a combination to the body from Chabot dropped Ramírez for a count of 8 from referee Forest. Half a minute later, a Chabot left to the body dropped Ramírez again, forcing referee Forest to stop him.
Super Featherweight Jean Gardy Francois, 3-0 (2), #129.2, from Montreal, Quebec, CAN, defeated southpaw Andrés Sánchez Ramírez, 4-5-3 (2), #129.2, from Gómez Palacio, Durango, MEX, over four rounds.
In the first round, Francois had swelling under his left eye as the two punched each other. In the second round, the swelling opened up a small cut from Francois in two close rounds.
In the third round, Francois began to bleed from his nose in another close round. In the fourth and final round, Francois hurt Ramirez midway through the round and sent him reeling with a right hand to the chin.
The scores were 40-36 twice and 39-37, just like this writer.
Welterweight Hamza “Taz” Khabbaz, 5-0 (1), #146.6, from Montreal, Quebec, CAN, defeated José “Tacho” Gutiérrez Bolaños, 2-6 (0), #146.8, from Mexico City, in four rounds.
In the first two rounds, they both came out firing shots early on, with Khabbaz hitting Bolaños lower with most of the headshots.
In the third and fourth rounds, Bolaños kept going, showing a lot of determination while taking a lot of shots to the chin, with Khabbaz throwing a shutout. The referee was Albert Junior Padulo. The scores were all 40-36, along with this writer.
