Heavyweight Daniel Dubois improved to 17-1, with the 16th KO of his career. On the same bill, UK compatriot Tommy Fury won a drab decision over Anthony Taylor.
The pay-per-view telecast on Showtime saw the promising British heavyweight contender make his U.S. debut in style, knocking down Juiseppe Angelo Cusumano (19-4, 17 KOs) three times en route to a first-round stoppage.
Dubois landed nearly everything he threw on the overmatched Cusumano, who was finished off by a barrage of punches 2:10 into the fight.
Dubois has won two consecutive fights since dropping his lone contest to the undefeated Joe Joyce in an exciting 2020 fight. With that loss in the rearview, Dubois is now looking ahead to bigger and better fights.
“You don’t get paid for overtime,” said Dubois. “I had a great performance and had the best training camp ever. But I want to fight for a world title. I want to fight the best. It’s going to come soon. Whoever’s next. I want to fight for a world title.”
TOMMY FURY
In the opening bout of the PPV telecast, Tommy Fury (7-0, 4 KOs), the younger brother of heavyweight world champion Tyson Fury, successfully made his U.S. debut but ultimately failed to impress when scoring a four-round shutout over combat sports veteran Anthony Taylor (0-2).
Already a crossover star after his runner-up finish on the hit U.K. reality TV show “Love Island,” Tommy Fury struggled to make a positive first impression on the American audience inside the ring and could not score the knockout he craved.
“I thought I had a good performance,” said the 22-year-old Manchester, England native. “You can’t forget that I only had 10 amateur fights, and my dad wasn’t here with me tonight.
“I had a great time when fighting in front of all these lovely people. I’m a novice in this game, and I know that I have to work on everything. I
“‘I’m nowhere near a finished product. I’m learning every single day, and I’m just thankful to be here healthy and talking to you.”
Fury used his height and considerable reach advantage in addition to his superior boxing skill to land 46 percent of his power punches on the outspoken former BELLATOR MMA fighter Taylor, who was competing in a professional boxing match for the second time in his career and the first time since 2017.
MONTANA LOVE
In the second pay-per-view bout, Cleveland’s Montana Love (16-0-1, 8 KOs) scored a vicious TKO over former world champion Ivan Baranchyk (20-3, 13 KOs), thrilling the hometown fans who were on their feet for the duration of the action-packed slugfest.
The southpaw Love landed a flush left uppercut in the closing seconds of the seventh round, sending Baranchyk to the canvas. While the wobbled Baranchyk beat the ten-count, trainer Pedro Diaz informed referee Lonnie Scott that he did not want his fighter to continue into the eighth round. At the time of the stoppage, Love was ahead on all three scorecards.
“This is a dream come true,” said the 26-year-old Love following the fight. “I’m in training every day thinking about and visualizing this moment.
“I want to thank Ivan for giving me this opportunity and helping us give the fans a great show. We’d been working on that uppercut the whole time during training.
“The game plan was to move and box him and make him miss. We knew that eventually, he was going to open up.”
In what was Love’s career-best performance, he demonstrated his power, accuracy, and defense. He landed 44 percent of his power punches while holding Baranchyk to just 45 total landed punches.
Love hurt Baranchyk, a power-punching champion involved in 2020’s consensus Fight of the Year, several times throughout the fight with a heavy left hand. Love now believes he’s ready for the best of the best in the 140-pound division.
“Strap me up. We’ve been working hard, and now it’s my time. I want Josh Taylor and Gervonta Davis. Line them up, and we can make it happen as soon as possible.”
