Dominic Breazeale Made His Case For Deontay Wilder
A look at the undercard action on the Charlo-Korobov fightcard from the Barclays Center — December 22nd 2018.
On a bad night for the Charlo brothers, these undercard fighters put on the show most expected from the main event. The audience got a little bonus action, and these fighters continued their forward momentum.
Dominic Breazeale KO9 Carlos Negron
Dominic Breazeale had exactly one objective tonight: to prove that he’s a credible opponent for Deontay Wilder. He comes away with a mixed outcome but some very nice looking highlights.
Breazeale entered the fight with a healthy size advantage and he aimed to press that advantage by marching forward. Negron fought defensively in the early goings, but he stepped it up in the 2nd and 3rd. Breazeale’s absolute focus on aggression left him vulnerable, and Negron decided to take the opportunities. He landed his share of punches in these early rounds, particularly a nice jab, but the balance of the damage being inflicted always seemed to favor Breazeale.
By the middle rounds Negron was fading and he never notched another round. He still got in the occasional shot, but the damage really started to add up in Breazeale’s favor.
In the 9th round Breazeale landed a wide right hand and got the KO. It ended up being the KO of the night. Breazeale immediately turned to Deontay Wilder in the crowd who taunted him back. Expect to see the KO and the exchange with Wilder replayed many times on the PBC’s new Fox shows.
Breazeale has his limitations but he deserves to be ranked in the top 15 at heavyweight and he will almost certainly face Wilder sooner or later.
Efe Ajagba TKO1 Santino Turnbow
Efe Ajagba continues to shine in every opportunity he’s given. Tonight he walked through Santino Turnbow with very little effort expended. Expect to see him back in the ring soon.
At 24 years old, 6'6" in height, with a massive 88" reach, and an Olympic pedigree Ajagba is as bright a heavyweight prospect as one could imagine. I would like to see him step up in class, but his handlers are taking their time. It’s hard to blame them considering how old the heavyweight division skews. He has all the time in the world.
Terrell Gausha KO1 Joey Hernandez
Terrell Gausha made his return to the ring after following a sleep-inducing loss to Erislandy Lara in the fall of 2017. Gausha, now fighting at middleweight, blew out seasoned journeyman Joey Hernandez in less than a round. Hernandez has been in with a murderers row in his career but he didn’t show up for this one. Very disappointing, even for an off-TV bout. Given his Olympic pedigree and that his only loss was against Lara, Gausha remains relatively marketable. Expect to see him back on TV against one of the PBC’s top middleweights in the future. It probably isn’t a coincidence that he fought on the same card as Jermall Charlo tonight.
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