ORLANDO – Jeovanny Estela brought the crowd and the pain.
The local favorite and rising junior middleweight prospect made quick work of Luis Caraballo, whom he stopped in the opening round in their all-Boricua battle. Caraballo was dropped, after which referee Christopher Young called at a halt at 2:10 of round in their DAZN aired-bout Saturday at Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida.
Rabid cheers filled the intimate ballroom as Estela made his way to the ring. The normally modest-hitting 23-year-old gave good reason to keep alive the applause. A left hand upstairs had Caraballo rocked, after which point Estela emptied his clip.
An uppercut snapped back the head of Caraballo, with a follow up right hook putting him on the deck. Caraballo (6-2-1, 6KOs) beat the count but could not steady himself at which point the fight was brought to a halt.
Estela (13-0, 4KOs) picked up his first knockout win since July 2022, having gone the distance in five straight contests prior to Saturday.
Khalil Coe picked his third knockout victory in as many fights on the year. The undefeated light heavyweight scored two knockdowns in a second-round stoppage of Kenmon Evans (10-2-1, 3KOs).
The scheduled eight-round contest saw Paterson, New Jersey’s Coe (7-0-1, 6KOs) hurt Evans in the opening round and continued on the attack until he closed the show. Evans was dropped hard early in round two but was able to beat the count. Coe let his hands go and floored the Florida native moments later, which forced referee Samuel Burgos to stop the contest at 1:21 of round two.
Jasmine Artiga never stopped fighting for the knockout but had to settle for her latest lopsided victory. The unbeaten Tampa-based southpaw scored a third-round knockdown and repeatedly hurt Ecuador’s Josefina Vega en route to an eight-round, unanimous decision victory. Scores were 80-71 on all three cards for Artiga in the curtain raiser.
Artiga (11-0-1, 5Koa) put her size and strength advantage to good use in the early rounds. Vega came straight forward but it worked to her detriment as she was decked hard by a left hand to the chin late in round three.
Vega came on strong in the later rounds and managed to tag Artiga with clean shots upstairs in round seven. It was too little, too late and didn’t at all resonate with the judges who failed to score a single round for the visiting boxer.
Headlining the show, Brooklyn’s Richardson Hitchins (16-0, 7KOs)—a 2016 Olympian for Haiti and rising contender—and former title challenger Jose Zepeda (37-3, 28KOs; 2NC) meet in a scheduled 12-round junior welterweight bout.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for krikya360.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox