Ashton Sylve Gets Decision Over JoJo Diaz As Mercado Continues Knockout Match
Sylve used his youth, speed, and movement to dominate the battle. Diaz, who entered the fight having lost eight of his last 10 bouts, pushed forward and had his moments, but Sylve kept landing clean punches and controlled the distance. Diaz remained competitive throughout, although Sylve finished strongly to secure the decision.
In the grappling division, undefeated lightweight Devin Cushing improved to 19-0 with a unanimous decision victory over J’Hon Ingram over 10 rounds.
Cushing dominated Ingram in the early rounds and hurt him with a right hook late in the second. Ingram came back well in the third and fourth rounds, with Cushing surprising with a lead in the fourth. The fight was competitive throughout, both fighters were successful, but Cushing’s strong performance in the later rounds helped him win by scores of 97-93 on all three cards.
WBO International super lightweight champion Ernesto “Tito” Mercado improved to 19-0 with an 18-fight stoppage over veteran Juan Carlos Burgos in the second round.
Mercado dominated from the opening bell, landing sharp combinations and finding the target again. At the start of the second round, the combination dropped Burgos by eight counts. Less than a minute later, Mercado scored a second knockdown with a right hand, ending the fight at 2:40 of the round. The suspension marked the first loss of Burgos’ professional career.
Middleweight Amir “Cashman” Anderson was undefeated, improving to 8-0 with a 10-round unanimous decision over Jonas Sylvain to capture the vacant WBC Silver middleweight title.
Sylvain enjoyed early success with body strikes before Anderson switched to southpaw and began to take control of the fight. Anderson knocked out Sylvain for much of the middle round and finished strong after surviving a hard right hand in the ninth. All three judges scored 100-90 in favor of Anderson.
Welterweight prospect David Lopez moved to 9-0 with a first round stoppage of Joey Borrero.
Lopez dropped Borrero less than a minute into the contest with a left hand and body combination. After the bout, Lopez landed a flurry of punches, forcing the referee to stop the fight at 1:41 of the opening round.
In the women’s super flyweight bout, Kayla “Truth” Gomez won her professional debut with a four-round unanimous decision over Shayntain Creer.
Gomez was in control of the fight from the start, showing the skills that have earned him so much respect. Creer showed resilience and improved as the fight went on, but Gomez landed the clean shots and finished the contest strong. All three judges scored 40-36 in favor of Gomez.
Others who saw action on the card were Ethan Smith, Daniel Mercado, and Kevin Gudino.
