.jpg?fit=1024%2C1024&ssl=1)
NEWARK, NJ – Jose Luis Sanchez was tough and durable, but Jahi Tucker displayed offensive and defensive prowess on his way to remaining undefeated Friday night at the Prudential Center.
Tucker landed the cleanest punches regularly and slipped many of Sanchez’s aggressive shots on his way to winning an eight-round unanimous decision on the Shakur Stevenson-Robson Conceicao undercard. Judges Ron McNair (80-72) and Robin Taylor (80-72) scored their fight shutout and judge Paul Wallace (79-73) scored seven of eight rounds for Tucker, a 19-year-old welterweight prospect from Deer. Park. New York.
Tucker (9-0, 5 KOs) went eight rounds for the first time in nine professional fights. He had won three of his previous four fights by knockout or TKO, but Sanchez has been stopped inside the distance just once in 15 professional fights.
In his previous appearance, Sanchez de Albuquerque (11-3-1, 4 KOs) went the six-round distance with top prospect Xander Zayas (14-0, 10 KOs) in a junior middleweight bout on September 10. at Casino Del Sol in Tucson. , AZ
Tucker tried to close out the show in the final round on Friday night, but couldn’t hurt the resilient Sanchez enough to finish him off. Tucker tagged Sanchez with a left to the body and followed up with an upstairs left hook 1:10 into the eighth and final round, but that was as close as he came to buzzing Sanchez.
Tucker nailed Sanchez with two right hands with just under 1:40 left in the seventh round.
Tucker caught Sanchez with three right hands in a row just after the middle of the sixth round. Tucker later landed a combination and dodged Sanchez’s counterpunches just before he finished the sixth round.
After a competitive fourth round, Tucker motioned for Sánchez to position himself in a neutral corner just before the middle of the fifth round and unloaded several right hands on him that caused Sánchez to back away from him.
Sanchez and Tucker traded heavy blows in the center of the ring just after the third round aisle point. Tucker dodged many punches from Sanchez and hit him with a right hand during the second round.
Tucker rocked Sanchez with a right hand in the last minute of the first round and then knocked him off balance with a left hook several seconds later.
Earlier on Friday night, Floyd Diaz overcame some tense moments to remain undefeated.
Juan Hernandez Martinez hurt Diaz twice, in the second and fifth rounds, but Diaz, 19, recovered each time. The Bronx native dropped Martinez with a right hand in the third round and hurt him again with a right hook in the sixth round on his way to winning their six-round featherweight bout by unanimous decision.
Judges Ron McNair (58-55), Robin Taylor (58-55) and Paul Wallace (59-54) scored their fight for Diaz (7-0, 2 KOs). Hernandez of Mexico fell to 2-2-1.
In the first fight on Friday night, Antoine Cobb of Chicago settled for another four-round draw with Jaylan Phillips of Las Vegas.
Cobb (1-0-2, 1 KO) got off to a good start, but tired during the third and fourth rounds and allowed Phillips to return to competitive competition. Cobb won all four rounds on judge Robin Taylor’s scorecard (40-36), but judge Paul Wallace scored it 39-37 for Phillips and judge Ron McNair tied the action, 38-38.
Cobb and Phillips previously fought to a four-round majority draw on the Stevenson-Oscar Valdez undercard on April 30 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Two judges scored that fight a draw (38-38, 38-38) and one judge credited Cobb with a 39-37 score.
Keith Idec is a senior writer/columnist for BoxingScene.com. He can be reached on Twitter @Idecboxing.
