Uncasville, CT (BoxingGurus.com) - In a night marred by quick stoppages, nothing was different for the main event at Mohegan Sun Casino shown live on Showtime. Antwun "Kid Dynamite" Echols (25-4-1, 24 KO) won an exciting, yet controversial, bout over former IBF Super Middleweight champion Charles "The Hatchet" Brewer (36-8, 26 KO) by a 3rd round TKO and won the vacant NABA Super Middleweight Title.
In what will go down as one of the biggest turn of events in recent memory, Echols was knocked down three times in the 2nd round and came back to stop Brewer in the very next round, even though Brewer never went to the canvas. Brewer used his whole arsenal in the second round, sending Echols to the mat with three different punches. The first knockdown occurred at :54 of the round with a clean right hook landed by Brewer. It appeared it was only a flash knockdown as Echols easily got up. But then just 40 seconds later, Brewer landed a vicious left upper cut-left hook combination sending Echols down again. This time Echols struggled to get up and was clearly hurt badly. Brewer kept up with the pace throwing repeated power shots. With only seconds remaining in the round, Brewer backed up Echols against the ropes and landed a huge left uppercut sending Echols to the canvas for the third time. Echols was able to beat the ten count as the round ended, and stumbled to his corner.
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Brewer hurts Echols with a flurry of punches in round 2 (AP)
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Brewer came out in the 3rd round very aggressively testing to see how much Echols had recovered from the 2nd round beating. Brewer landed a quick right that momentarily stunned Echols, however, Echols, probably out of desperation, launched a hard right of his own catching Brewer off balance stunning him. Echols capitalized on this turn of events firing his right hand repeatedly. A brawling Echols moved Brewer into the corner where he landed a big overhand right prompting referee Michael Ortega to rule Brewer knocked down. Later Ortega explained that he felt that the ropes were holding Brewer up and had the ropes not been there Brewer would have been knocked down. In the mean time, an exhausted Echols fell backwards apparently pushed over by the referee. After Echols was helped up, the referee gave Brewer, who never hit the canvas, an eight count.
Echols wasted no time and jumped on Brewer, again launching his big right hand in succession. Within seconds Echols backed Brewer into the ropes and landed a good series of power shots. It was at this point that referee Ortega stepped in a called a halt to the action, much to the chagrin of the spectators on hand. A roar of boo's was heard as bewildered crowd stood in astonishment to the premature stoppage.
After the fight referee Ortega commented on the stoppage. "(Brewer) was hurt and wasn't responding," said Ortega. "He was not protecting himself."
When asked about Brewer's performance in the post fight interview Echols said, "I've never endured anything like that before." Regarding the early stoppage Echols suggested, "I though it was a good stoppage."
Brewer obviously had a different take on the outcome. Brewer said, commenting on the first knockdown, "I didn't feel like the ropes were holding me up." He went on to say that the fight was stopped prematurely because he was still responsive and defending himself.
As far as future bouts are concerned Echols suggested that he would take Felix Trinidad at 160 or 168 pounds. Another potential opponent would be WBO champion Joe Calzaghe. When asked of Calzaghe, Echols said, "I want Calzaghe, I want him in Europe, I will go to the moon to fight him." Yet another possibility would be a rematch between the hard-hitting Brewer and Echols. "A rematch…show me the money," offered Echols after the bout.
TELEVISED UNDERCARD:
2000 US Olympian Jeff "Left Hook" Lacy (3-0, 3 KO) put a quick end to "Tough" Tony Pope (14-8, 11 KO) evening by scoring a TKO at 2:27 of the 1st round. Early in the round, Lacy knocked Pope through the ropes, which was ruled a slip, and then Lacy unloaded a barrage of power shots putting Pope to the canvas. When Pope beat the count, referee Steve Flaherty asked for the physician to come over to examine the cut over Pope's left eye. Due to the severity of the cut, the ringside physician recommended a stoppage to the fight and Flaherty agreed.
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2000 Mexican Olympian "The Baby-Faced Assassin" Francisco "Panchito" Bojado (5-0, 5 KO) showed why he is the most talked about fighter coming out of the 2000 Olympics. Bojado, who weighted in at the 135 pound Lightweight limit, landed left hook after left hook on Ernesto Fuentes (9-3-1, 5 KO) and stopped Fuentes with a TKO at 2:41 of the 1st round. Bojado knocked Fuentes down two times, both with GREAT left hooks. After the second knockdown, Bojado jumped all over Fuentes and referee James Santa stepped in to prevent further damage.
UNTELEVISED UNDERCARD:
Young Junior Welterweight phenom Juan Diaz (9-0, 6 KO) remained undefeated with a devastating 1st round KO over Carlos Navarez (9-9, 5 KO). Diaz came out like a man possessed and charging Navarez throwing vicious combinations to both the body and head. Diaz first knocked down Navarez in the middle of the round with a big left hook that went over his defenses. When Navarez got back up, Diaz continued his devastating body shots to bring Navarez's hands down and finally finishing him off at 2:44 of the 1st round with a great left hook to the body followed by an atomic right hook.
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2000 US Olympic Silver Medallist Ricardo "Rocky" Juarez (3-0, 2 KO) scored a workman like TKO at :38 of the 3rd round over Featherweight opponent "Big" Eddie Uturov (6-6, 5 KO). Juarez did look his usual impressive self, but suffered a cut under his right eye in round three. Juarez did knockdown Uturov at the end of round three with a good 4-5 punch combination. Then quickly at the beginning of the 4th round Juarez caught Uturov with a solid left that backed Uturov up and the referee then stepped in to stop the fight, which looked from ringside to be a bit premature.
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Young Philadelphia Heavyweight prospect Malik Scott (4-0, 3 KO) looked very impressive and scored a TKO at 2:23 of the 2nd round over Robert "Big Dawg" Anderson (4-2-1, 1 KO). Scott came out swinging in the 1st round landing combinations at will, especially using his powerful right hand. Anderson was caught with a low blow by Scott early in the 2nd round and almost immediately after action resumed, Scott caught Anderson with a big right hand sending him to the canvas. Anderson showed lots of heart getting up and fighting back, but ended up succumbing to Scott's power shots. After being knocked down again, referee James Santa stopped the fight, as Anderson was unresponsive to the referee's commands.
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Young Light Heavyweight prospect "Big Danny Boy" Daniel Judah (10-0-1, 6 KO) used his lightening left hook to totally dominate Donnie Giron (17-7-2, 13 KO) and ultimately scored a 4th round TKO as the ringside physician stopped the fight after the 4th round ended. Judah scored knockdowns in both the 1st and 4th rounds both by crisp left hands. Judah is the younger brother of IBF Junior Welterweight champion Zab Judah.
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Local Junior Welterweight favorite Vivian Harris (17-1-1, 14 KO) successfully returned to action after a lengthy layoff and made quick work of Hector Arroyo (18-10-2, 11 KO). Harris defeated Arroyo by scoring a TKO at 2:06 of the first round.
