By Joe Harrison, photos by Leslie Banaszek & Sumio Yamada
WBC Cruiserweight Champion Krzysztof “Diablo” Wlodarczyk (49-2-1, 35 KOs) defeated Giacobbe “Gabibbo” Fragomeni (31-4-2, 12 KOs) by a seventh-round TKO on Friday night at the UIC Pavilion in of Chicago, IL. The bout was the main event of “World Championship Boxing: Wlodarczyk vs. Fragomeni 3″ presented by Ulrich Knockout Promotions, Warriors Boxing and 8 Count Productions.
The 32-year-old Wlodarczyk controlled the action from the start as he used his long reach to keep his 44-year-old opponent off balance. Despite being out-gunned, Fragomeni continued to stalk the champion and landed a few effective punches of his own.
In round four, just as it seemed that Fragomeni was beginning to turn the tide, Wlodarczyk landed a hard left hook during a clinch, dropping Fragomeni to the canvas. Fragmoeni barley beat the count to survive the round but a gash had opened up on his left cheek.
Through the next couple of rounds, Wlodarczyk continued to take the fight to the challenger by landing hard jabs and left hooks. Still, Fragomeni was moving forward and fighting back hard.
After taking a good look at Fragomeni, the contest was called off by the advice of the ringside physician. The official time of stoppage was 1 second into round number seven. With the victory, Wlodarczyk has made six successful title defenses. Afterward, he expressed his intention of unifying the cruiserweight titles.
In the co-feature, IBF #1 light heavyweight contender Andrzej Fonfara (25-2, 15 KOs) scored a second-round knockout over Samuel Miller (26-8, 23 KOs) in a scheduled ten-round bout.
Fonfara came out aggressively and took the fight to Miller. Near the end of the round, Fonfara landed a left uppercut to the beltline of Miller, sending him to the canvas. Miller complained of a low blow to referee Gerald Scott, but the count was issued and Miller rose to his feet to end the round.
In round two, both boxers began to trade punches and Miller landed a hard rabbit punch. Fonfara responded by stepping to his left and landing an explosive left hook to drop Miller for a second time. This time, Miller struggled to beat the count and the fight was called off at the time of 58 seconds.
Also on the card, junior welterweight Adrian Granados (13-2-2, 9 KOs) earned a sixth-round TKO over Carlos Velasquez (21-18-1, 11 KOs). Granados broke down his opponent round after round, more than willing to take a punch before landing one of his own.
In round five, a brawl began to break out as both boxers were swinging with bad intentions. Suddenly, Granados landed a combination of lefts and rights to drop Velasquez. Although Velasquez was able to continue, he was dropped again before the round came to an end. He rose to his feet once again, but he did not come out for the next round. The official time of stoppage was 1 second into round six.
In other action, Irish super middleweight Henry Coyle (19-2, 12 KOs) defeated Skyler Thompson (12-10, 10 KOs) by a six-round unanimous decision. Coyle was the aggressor as he plodded forward in an effort to land effective punches. In round six, Coyle was credited with a knockdown although Thompson appeared to trip over his opponent’s foot while a jab was landed. In the end, the scores were 59-54 and 60-53 twice.
In addition, super middleweight Jonathon Gonzalez (17-0-1, 14 KOs) scored a fifth-round TKO over Jaison Palomeque (14-8-1, 9 KOs). A left to the body dropped Palomeque in round one. Palomeque was down again in round two following a left to the body and a right upstairs. After Palomeque was sent to the canvas twice more in round five, referee Gerald Scott halted the action at the time of 1:05.
Also, lightweight Fred Bown (2-1-1) defeated Jose Romero (1-1) by a four-round unanimous decision. Romero dropped Bowen with a hard left-right combination in round one. In return, Bowen sent Ronero to the canvas twice before the conclusion of the opening round. In the end, the scores were 40-35 and 39-36 twice.
Plus, cruiserweight Junior Wright (9-0, 8 KOs) stopped Harley Kilfian (10-14, 8 KOs) in round three. The end came at the time of 2:15.
Super middleweight Trinidad Garcia (6-3-3) defeated Ramiro Bueno Jr. (2-4-1, 1 KO) by a five-round split decision. The scores were 48-47 for Bueno and 49-46 twice for Garcia.
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