Wayne State University hosted its third professional boxing event for Salita Promotions’ “Big Time Boxing USA” series.
Metro Detroit contenders and prospects put on a thrilling night of boxing filled with highlights on Thursday, May 23.
The night opened with a 10-round super middleweight bout between Ali Akhmedov (21-1, 16 KOs) of Kazakhstan and Encarnacion Diaz (18-5, 11 KOs) of San Francisco, California.
In the first round Akhmedov applied pressure against the shorter Diaz. Diaz almost immediately had his back against the ropes, allowing Akhmedov to set the pace. Akhmedov jabbed from long range which set up sharp, accurate combinations. Diaz’s strategy was to draw Akhmedov in and land a counter but Akhmedov remained disciplined.
Diaz’s strategy saw a moment of success when he landed a hard counter right hand at the start of round two. Akhmedov took the punch well and started to pick up the pace, firing combinations from long range.
Akhmedov kept up the pressure, landing hard shots to the head and body. Towards the end of the round, Akhmedov landed nearly every punch he threw. Diaz tried to retreat but the pressure was building.
Akhmedov landed a hard left hook that sent Diaz tumbling to the canvas. Diaz showed toughness by standing on his feet but was dropped once again by a barrage of punches. The referee stopped the fight with Akhmedov scoring the technical knockout in round two.
The next bout saw Josiah Shackleford (2-1, 2KOS) versus Ja’Shar Banks (now 0-1) in a 4-round battle between two middleweight prospects out of Detroit.
In round one, Shackleford started out jabbing and circling around the ring to keep the aggressive Banks at bay. Banks tried to mount offense starting with the jab, but Shackleford’s movement made it hard for Banks to land many clean punches.
At the end of the round, Shackleford landed a hard counter at the end of the round which would set the tone for the rest of the fight.
In round two, Shackleford’s movement allowed him to land sharp counters as Banks came forward. The counters to the head and body started to take effect as Banks’ offense slowed down but he showed a lot of heart in his pro debut. Banks continued forward but Shackleford landed hard punches throughout the round.
In round 3, Shackleford started digging crushing punches to the body of Banks. The consistent body attack set up openings to the head as Shackleford landed a hard right hand that rocked Banks. He followed with a barrage of punches that backed Banks up. Shackleford remained the aggressor for the remainder of the round.
In round 4, Shackleford immediately opened as the aggressor looking to capitalize on the previous round’s success. He fired a mix of punches to the head and body that knocked Banks’ mouthpiece out. Shackleford hurt Banks several times throughout the round, but Banks survived until the final bell.
The bout went to the judges’ scorecards with Shackleford scoring a unanimous decision victory. The scores were 40-36 from all three judges.
The exciting night of fights continued in the co-main event with a highly contested matchup between two undefeated super lightweight prospects for the NABF championship. Joshua James Pagan (10-0, 4 KOs) of Grand Rapids, endured a tough battle with Rodger Hilley (13-1, 8 KOs) of Chattanooga, TN.
In round one, Hilley was immediately the aggressor, trying to apply pressure early. Hilley backed Pagan into the corner but a headbutt occurred in the punch exchange. A cut appeared over the left eye of Pagan that would stream blood down his face for the remainder of the fight.
Hilley sought to make it an ugly fight by getting in close, leaning on Pagan and throwing combinations. Pagan’s superior arm length and hand speed allowed him to find success fighting from long range, but Hilley was relentless. Every time Hilley landed a combination, Pagan fired back with one of his own.
In round two, Hilley had success closing the distance early in the round. He applied forward pressure, but Pagan made an adjustment by throwing the uppercut on the inside. He landed it routinely throughout the round as Hilley got close. Pagan found his rhythm in this round by using his hand speed and crafty movement around the ring to find openings.
In round three, the two had another clash of heads early in the round as Hilley lunged in. Hilley backed Pagan against the ropes, but Pagan responded with a flurry of punches. The pace of the fight picked up to a frenetic pace with both fighters trading heavy blows. Hilley pressed forward as Pagan used boxing prowess to land punches from long range.
From rounds four through eight, the fight remained at an incredibly fast pace, but Pagan began gaining momentum. Hilley’s punch output seemed to dwindle round-by-round as Pagan wore him down with jabs, sharp combinations and movement around the ring. By the final bell, Hilley’s face was battered and bruised but he rarely took a step backwards throughout the fight.
The thrilling bout went to the judges’ scorecards with Pagan scoring the unanimous decision victory. The scores were 78-74 for all three judges.
“I knew if I got butted or cut, to just stay calm,” said Pagan. “I’ve been cut before, and I know how to adjust and fight through it. I learned as I went on to fight smarter and not get hit in the eye. I felt like he was trying to back me up and I’ve always heard you have to bully the bully, so I decided to stand my ground and that made him hesitant. So, then I started using my boxing ability to keep him outside and fight my fight.”
The night of boxing ended with a heavyweight slugfest in the main event. Jermaine Franklin of Saginaw put the rest of the heavyweight division on notice with his performance against Devin Vargas of Toledo, OH.
There wasn’t much of a feel out process in round one as Vargas immediately applied forward pressure. Franklin countered with a big right hand that hurt Vargas and set the tone for the rest of the fight.
Franklin’s power was too much for Vargas to handle but he still stalked forward and fought back. Franklin ended the round landing a hard counter at the end of the round.
Vargas showed a lot of toughness and heart throughout the fight. He even had moments of success by overwhelming Franklin with aggression and activity. However, Franklin’s ability to consistently land powerful blows on his opponent was the difference in the fight.
In round four, Vargas continued the forward pressure but was hurt by a combination. Franklin unleashed a barrage of punches that sent Vargas to the canvas. Vargas got up and survived the round but was hurt.
In round six Franklin found success landing crushing body blows which set up openings to the head. Franklin dropped Vargas again with a combination. Vargas stood on his feet and survived through the round, but the fight was stopped in Vargas’ corner. The official verdict was a TKO victory for Franklin at 0:00 of the seventh round.
“It was a great fight for me, but I felt like I made it harder than it needed to be,” admitted Franklin, post-fight. “I was trying too hard to land power shots. I’m not going to lie. Once I landed the first power punch, I just got happy. I was trying to calm down. It looked like I was letting him get off, but I had to calm down to refocus. I got outside my game plan, but I still got the job done.”
Franklin’s promoter, Dmitriy Salita wants to see Franklin fight against heavyweight contender Joseph Parker next.
“I believe Jermaine is rated in the WBO, so Joseph Parker is the WBO Heavyweight World Champion,” said Salita. “I think it’d be a great fight. Both guys fought Dillian Whyte, and both guys fought Anthony Joshua. That’s the fight we’d like to go for.”