Gray outworks game Flores in main event;
Reis stuns Cisneros with 1st-round knockout to capture title
The
unbeaten Worcester , Mass. Ecuador
Gray
(12-0) had knocked out his previous eight opponents, including seven in the
first round, entering Friday,
but Flores, who agreed to the fight on Tuesday after Gray’s original opponent, Cameron Rivera, fractured his
wrist, gave Gray the fight of his life.
Entering
the bout, Gray planned on pacing himself more than he had in his previous
fights and he stayed true to his word, methodically picking apart his opponent
while cutting off the ring effectively and simply out-boxing Flores for all 10 rounds.
Gray fought more rounds Friday than he had in his previous eight
bouts combined, but stamina was no issue; he looked as fresh in the eighth
round as his did in the first.
The
co-feature didn’t last nearly as long. Providence’s Kali Reis (8-5-1, 4 KOs) made quick work of
Albuquerque, N.M., vetVictoria Cisneros (11-19-2), stopping her opponent at
the 1:31 mark to capture the vacant Universal
Boxing Federation (UBF) Female Middleweight World Title.
Fighting
in front of her hometown fans for the first time in more than three years, Reis
wasted no time establishing a frenetic pace, landing clean shots upstairs early
and often. Cisneros (11-19-2 ) tried to keep pace,
fighting her way out of her own corner, but Reis backed her into a corner again
and landed another unanswered flurry, forcing referee Johnny Callas to stop the bout.
The
UBF title is Reis’ second world championship; she captured the International
Boxing Association (IBA) Middleweight World Title in November of 2014 with a
knockout win over Teresa
Perozzi in Bermuda and will
travel to New Zealand in April to fight for the vacant World Boxing Council
(WBC) Female Middleweight World Title.
Alabanian
middleweight Fatlum Zhuta (3-0-1, 3 KOs ) and Framingham , Mass. KOs ) each scored
knockout wins in their second appearance with CES.
Zhuta,
who now lives and trains in Anchorage , Alaska 3-6-1 ) of New Haven , Conn. 1:39 mark of the third. Ramos made quick work of pro debut Tanner Dodd (0-1) from Robinson , Tex. 2:28 mark.
Holyoke,
Mass., welterweight Mohamad
Allam (2-1, 1 KO), now
fighting out of Framingham and fighting for the first time since making his CES
debut in September, earned his first career win on U.S. soil, stopping
Brockton, Mass., vet Lionel
Young(1-3) at the 2:07 mark of the second round.
The
two exchanged power punches in a spirited first round before Allam began
working the body, dropping Young with a series of left hooks to the ribcage
midway through the second. Pressed against the ropes with Allam looking for the
knockout, Young fought back valiantly, at one point landing a hard right hook
upstairs, but Allam absorbed the blows and eventually stopped Young with a
series of unanswered shots, prompting Lupino to wave it off in the final
minute.
