#PBConNBC Quillin crushes Zerafa, Charlo stops Bundrage

Peter Quillin blasts-out Michael Zerafa

Jermall Charlo overwhelms Cornelius Bundrage

The PBC on NBC comes to Foxwoods

Words & Pictures By Alex Pierpaoli
Twitter Recap Here
Peter Quillin talks to media after his ko victory

On Saturday afternoon, Al Haymon's creation, Premier Boxing Champions blasted its way around the Connecticut woods at Foxwoods' Grand Theater with a knockout heavy 9 bout fight card promoted by DiBella Entertainment. Brooklyn's Peter Kid Chocolate Quillin scored a fifth round video-game-finishing-move style kayo of Australia's Michael Zerafa in the middleweight main event televised live on NBC. And in the televised co-feature, undefeated super welterweight Jermall Charlo crumpled Cornelius "K9" Bundrage in three rounds to become the IBF Champ at 154 pounds. In terms of sheer and sudden brutality the PBC certainly delivered on this visit to CT. Five of the nine bouts on the card ended inside the distance, two of those in round one, and Zerafa left the ring on a stretcher after being stopped in the Main Event.

Fighting for the second time this year, after settling for a draw with Andy Lee back in April, Peter "Kid Chocolate" Quillin scaled 160lbs, despite there being no mention of the alpha-belt he holds, as has been the PBC tradition. Michael "Pretty Boy" Zerafa, of Melbourne, Australia weighed 162lbs and was fighting for the first time in the United States. Zerafa brought the fight right to

Quillin in the opening round, moving in behind a jab and connecting with solid rights that got Kid Chocolate's attention but didn't hurt him. Zerafa paid for his aggressiveness, swallowed choppy left hand counters at close quarters. In the fourth a big right hand from Quillin draws an immediate response from the game Zerafa and he lands a hard left-right in the best exchange of the bout. In the fifth another exchange of heavy shots ends as Zerafa staggers back towards a neutral corner. Quillin lunges across the ring launching a right hand blast to the jaw of Zerafa that crumples him. Ref. Arthur Mercante halted the bout without a count and concussed, Zerafa was removed from the ring on a stretcher, and rushed to nearby Backus Hospital in Norwich. 

Later, Quillin spoke to media backstage at the Grand Theater and to opponent Michael Zerafa by telephone. With the win Quillin improved to 32-0-1 (23) and Zerafa fell to 17-2 (9).

Quillin's cross city, middleweight rival, Daniel Jacobs was in attendance at the fight and said Quillin's performance was exactly what he needed to see to prepare for their potential match-up at the Barclay's Center tentatively scheduled for December 5. "What other motivation do you need to get your butt up in the gym and get prepared?"

Jermall Charlo, 153lbs, of Houston, TX, wrested the IBF Super Welterweight Title from rugged Cornelius "K9" Bundrage, 153lbs, of Detroit, MI. Starting slowly, both boxers measured each other in the opening seconds, suddenly Charlo connected a straight right to the temple of K9 and put him

down. Bundrage rose from the knockdown, more surprised than hurt and Ref. Johnny Callas allowed the fight to resume. In the second Charlo dropped him again with another speedy shot, this time a jab. Charlo's speed and sneaky angles simply overwhelming the cagey and supremely conditioned Bundrage. In the third, Charlo goes on the attack again, putting Bundrage down twice more, the second from a big overhand right high on the head. Down for the fourth time in three rounds, Ref. Callas waved off the bout without a count. Bundrage was unhappy about the stoppage but was clearly overwhelmed by his younger opponent.

"You never put a dog in a pen with a lion," Charlo told NBC's in-ring reporter after the victory. Charlo improves to 22-0 (17).

The normally durable Bundrage searched for answers after the kayo defeat. "The problem was, I've been inactive," K9 said. "I was in there with a good fighter who has been active and is hungry." Bundrage drops to 34-6 (19) losing by stoppage for the first time since 2007. Jermall Charlo picks up the IBF World Super Welterweight Title, even though the PBC doesn't talk about them, and raises his record to 22-0 (17).

Light heavyweight, Marcus Browne, 175lbs, of Staten Island, NY, made short work of Gabriel Campillo, 179lbs, of Madrid, Spain, stopping him at :55 second of the opening round. Browne wanted to make a statement and with the notoriously slow-starting Campillo he did just that, jumping right on him at the bell, throwing all-business shots.Browne nailed Campillo with a straight right on the forehead that sent him backward. Smelling blood, Browne surged after Campillo and dropped him with a barrage. Campillo rose from the knockdown but was quickly down again from a hard left hook to the ribs that kept him down. Ref. Arthur Mercante Jr halted the action at :55 of round number one. Browne can now brag that snuffed Campillo in less time than Kovalev, Fonfara, and Beterbiev all of whom stopped the Spaniard when they faced him. Marcus Browne improved to 16-0 (12) and Gabriel Campillo fell to 25-8 (12).

Female super bantamweight, Shelly "Shelito's Way" Vincent, 124lbs, of Providence, RI, defeated Brttany "Pretty Girl" Cruz, 122lbs, of Thornton, CO, via 8 round unanimous decision. True to form, Vincent went right after the guts of Cruz from the opening gong, pressing past Cruz's jab and owning the inside. Cruz had moments where she was able to catc

h Vincent on the outside with straight punches and had her best moments in the second and third. But Vincent's pressure and body attack withered Cruz and thrilled the crowd in what was the most competitive bout on the card. Promoter Lou DiBella teased the ringside media with the possibility of a future clash between Shelly Vincent and Brooklyn's undefeated Heather Hardy. "Seems inevitable," Dibella said, smiling. On this day Vincent emerged victorious by scores of 79-73 twice, and 80-72 all in favor of Vincent, now 15-0 (1). Brittany Cruz dropped to 10-7-2 (2).

Middleweight, Hugo Centeno Jr., of Oxnard, CA, remained undefeated, scoring a unanimous decision over Lukasz Maciec of Lublin, Poland. Centeno, 161lbs, easily outboxed Maciec, 159lbs, over the eight round distance, pelting him with combinations and bedeviling him with constant circling. At the finish the scorecards were 79-73 x 2 and 78-74 all in favor of Centeno, now 23-0 (12). Maciec dropped to 22-3-1 (5).



Antonio "The Other" Russell, 119lbs, of Washington, DC, stopped Manuel Rubalcava, 120lbs, of Baranquilla, Columbia, with what looked to be a body shot but may have actually fractured the Colombian's forearm. Rubalcava was counted out on the canvas and left the ring with an air-cast on his arm. The official time of the TKO was of round number 1. Russell improved to while Rubalcava is stopped for the first time, now

Titus Williams, 126lbs, of Elmont, NY, finished off Benjamin Burgos, 124lbs, of New York, NY, at 1:48 of the first with a single overhand right. "God's Gift" Williams crashed the shot against the side of Burgos' face making a loud crunch which may have been his jaw or soft palate. Burgos crumpled slowly, more from pain than concussion and the bout was waved off. Williams picks up his first knockout in brutal fashion, now 2-0 (1) while Benjamin Burgos falls to 2-13-1.

Gary Stark Jr, 124lbs, of Staten Island, NY, defeated Anthony Napunyi, 124lbs, of Canal Point, FL, by unanimous decision. Scores were 58-56 x 2 and 59-55 in favor of Stark, Jr, now 25-3 (8), Napunyi fell to 15-16 (8).



In the final bout of the afternoon Brian Pee-wee Cruz defeated Jonathan Perez of Columbia in a lopsided eight round unanimous decision. Although Perez pressed the action throughout and withstood repeated right-hands to the face with little effect, it was Cruz doing all the throwing and Perez doing the catching. After the final bell the scorecards were 80-72, 79-73 and 77-75 all in favor of Bryant Cruz who improved to 16-0 (8) while Jonathan Perez dropped to 33-12 (27).