By: Sean Crose
Saturday’s highly anticipated supercard, hosted in Saudi Arabia, got off to a fast start, as the first four fights finished inside the distance, two of those four inside the first round. Things began with heavyweight Frank Sanchez (23-0) taking on Junior Fa (20-2) in a scheduled 10-round matchup. While it’s true that the fight got off to a slow start, once Sanchez put the figurative pedal to the medal, he was able to finish things in style. Fa was eliminated at the end of the sixth. He was able to make it to the seventh round, but Sanchez knocked him down two more times and the referee wisely stopped the fight.
Heavyweight Filip Hrgovic, 16-0, was next, taking on the clearly outmatched Mark De Mori, 41-2-2, in a battle scheduled for 10. Suffice it to say, the fight was one of total destruction. While it looked like Hrgovic was landing a few shots behind the head, there was no doubt that De Mori was over his head. Before he finished the first, the man was already turning his back on Hrgovic. The referee stopped the fight before the bell rang to stop the first round.
The next fight, however, showcased a truly impressive talent, one who was willing to give up his IBF cruiserweight title to face his opponent on Saturday. The decision to give up that belt turned out to be a wise choice, as Jai Opetaia (23-0) knocked down Ellis Zorro (17-0) in the first round of the fight. Suffice it to say that Zorro did not pass the count, because there was no count. The referee simply knew it was best to stop the fight.
The next fight turned out to be a surprise. Arslanbek Makhmudov (18-0) was a highly touted heavyweight when he entered the ring to face Agit Kabayel (23-0) in a fight scheduled for 10. They didn’t make it past four. In fact, Kabayel effectively took down his industrious opponent. In the fourth, Kabayel took down his man not once, not twice, but three times before the referee put an end to things.
