From an extremely hot night in Leemor, California ESPN Friday Night Fights scheduled a World Championship bout in the Light Heavyweight Division as Beibut Shumenov ( 9 – 1 6 KO’s) of Kazakhstan made his first title defense against undefeated power punching Vyacheslav Uzelkov ( 22 – 0 15 KO’s) from Ukraine. The relatively unknown fighters were confident in making a big statement in division as well as start laying the foundation to become a household name to the American public. But both fighters came into the bout with big question marks, Uzelkov had fought 20 of his 22 fights in Ukraine against mostly uncompetitive opposition and the record-setting Shumenov is fairly unexperienced with only 10 fights under his belt. Shumenov’s last fight against Gabriel Campillo was very controversial as many ring side observers, including this writer, thought Campillo had won the fight to retain the title. Uzelkov on the other hand also fought Campillo and knocked him out in the 6th round back in September of 2007 in Ukraine, this common opponent made this bout the more interesting to watch.

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From Puerto Rico, Miguel Cotto and Golden Boy Promotions put on a boxing card featuring featherweight up and comer Carlos Velasquez (12-0, 10 KO) of Miami, Florida against tough 22-year old Eduardo Arcos (15-1, 12 KO) of Tijuana, Mexico.

The scheduled six rounder was packed with good exchanges from start to finish with both fighters having there moments. After the first couple of rounds Velasquez’s speed and accuracy was the key that started to turn the bout in his favor, picking his shots in between Arcos wide and looping punches.

In the fifth round Arcos could not land any punch until thirty seconds into the round but by then Velasquez was landing thunderous punches at will. Give credit to Arcos as he was there to fight. Lacking on technique he relied on fighting instincts and a solid chin, but Velasquez was to much and the referee stepped in to call a halt to the bout at the 1:19 mark of Round 5 after several staggering shots to give the promising prospect a TKO victory.

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