The ‘Prince’ has now scored two victories on the back of taking a year out and will be looking to step up his opposition in order to make a significant rankings move in the future.
Also on the bill, ex-world super middleweight title challenger Edwin ‘La Bomba’ Rodriguez successfully made his return from a fifteen-month absence to halt Melvin Russell in two rounds at a weight of 185 pounds.
Rodriguez was previously shocked in two rounds by Thomas Williams Jr. back in April 2016, derailing another possible championship chance following an earlier defeat to Andre Ward.
Additional action saw light heavyweight prospect Ahmed Elbiali (16-0, 13 KOs) remain unbeaten with a dominant stoppage of Philadelphia’s Christopher Brooker (12-4, 5 KOs) in the second round of action.
Elbiali came out aggressive from the start, looking to land big power shots with both hands while Brooker quickly sought to establish his movement and consistently tied up Elbiali when the action moved to the inside.
Both men received a warning from referee Bruce McDaniel midway through the first round for hits to the back of the head and it was later on in the round when the referee deducted a point from Brooker after another illegal shot.
Elbiali began the second round continuing his aggressive style and stalked Brooker until he could unload power shots in the corner. After landing several big shots that began to slow Brooker, Elbiali rained down multiple overhand rights that left Brooker hunched over before a final left hook put him on the canvas. The referee jumped in and called a halt to the bout 1:48 into the round.
“I had a decent performance tonight, I was definitely a little sloppy but I’ll have to look at the tape,” said Elbiali. “I still have a lot to learn and plenty of improvements to make. At the end of the day, I got the knockout that I was looking for.”
