By Cliff Rold

On Saturday night at the DC Armory in Washington, DC, in front of approximately 4,300 fans, Cuban-born 36-year old interim WBA heavyweight titlist Luis Ortiz (25-0, 22 KO) of Miami, Florida, scored three big knockdowns en route to a sixth round knockout of 44-year old former two-time heavyweight title challenger Tony Thompson (40-7, 23 KO) of Washington, DC. Thompson was making his first career start in front of his home crowd and suffers only the third stoppage loss of his career.

Both of Thompson’s previous stoppages came in title fights versus former world champion Wladimir Klitschko. Thompson, nearing the end of his career, suffers his fourth loss in six starts.

In combination with Lucas Browne’s upset of Ruslan Chagaev for another version of the WBA title earlier on Saturday, the heavyweight division continues a stark transformation begun in earnest with Tyson Fury’s 2015 upset of Klitschko. The old guard is being forcibly moved off the stage with Klitschko set to have a chance to stem the tide in a rematch with Fury for the lineal crown later this year.

Ortiz has emerged, along with the UK’s Anthony Joshua, New Zealand’s Joseph Parker, and Deontay Wilder of the US as an exciting core for the future of boxing’s flagship class. 

Ortiz weighed in at a ready 242 ½ while Thompson came in at a loose 263 ¾, nearly twenty pounds more than he carried in his second Klitschko fight. The referee was Malik Waleed.

Nothing happened for almost two minutes as the two big men circled one another, grinning at each other. Then Ortiz landed a single right hand. Down went Thompson. Thompson beat the count and covered up when Ortiz pressed. Both men kept smiling at each other though only one had something to smile about.

ortiz-thompson (1)_1

Thompson was keeping his hands up whenever Ortiz fired at his head as the second developed. Thompson tried a little bit of offense but mostly moved away as Ortiz patiently picked away looking for an opening. The opening didn’t come again until late in the third. Thompson was having his best round to then, landing several right hands and a nice left in close. Then, with maybe a second or two left in the round, an Ortiz right behind the ear sent Thompson to the deck.

Again he beat the count and as the fourth got underway he escaped an early Ortiz rush. The relaxed veteran wasn’t shy about exchanging despite suffering two knockdowns, still grinning like he was having a blast. A plodding Ortiz followed Thompson around the ring doing little to cut him off in the fifth, allowing a loose Thompson to lean into the ropes and use his height to avoid heavy shots.

He couldn’t avoid them forever. Ortiz found the mark for a third knockdown, and the last time, in round six. Countering a right to the body from Thompson, Ortiz landed a booming left to the head and Thompson lost his smile as Waleed counted him out at 2:29 of the sixth.

Ortiz was respectful of Thompson after the fight. “Remember, he’s a fighter who has lots of experience,” he said through an interpreter. Ortiz appears and says he is ready for anyone in the division with his age not much of a factor. If he follows the prescription of the WBA, Ortiz could next fight Alexander Ustinov with an eye towards a showdown with whoever the WBA “super” champion is after Fury-Klitschko II.

Speaking with the press after the fight, Ortiz had no problem with facing Ustinov as soon as May. The fight has been discussed as a potential undercard addition to the Canelo Alvarez-Amir Khan middleweight title card. Golden Boy representative Eric Gomez stated the timing of an Ortiz-Ustinov showdown would come down to negotiations with Ustinov’s promoter Frank Warren.   

ON THE UNDERCARD

The evening’s co-feature was expected to be the best fight of the night and gave fans their money’s worth. After trading rounds early, 26-year old welterweight and former Jr. welterweight titlist Jessie Vargas (27-1, 10 KO),146 ½, physically took over and stopped 27-year old 2008 US Olympian Sadam Ali (22-1, 13 KO), 147, of Brooklyn, New York, in round nine. Vargas scored knockdowns in rounds eight and nine. The referee was Kenny Chevalier.

After spending a minute mostly staring at each other, wondering who would lead, Ali let loose a quick salvo. Vargas fired, landing to the body and with a couple of good hooks. Sparse action in the first gave way to a more promising burst of energy in the second.

Ali slipped on a wet spot in Vargas’s corner shortly after a Vargas punch, creating the illusion he might be hurt. Ali caught his balance and tied up, the fight settling back into a chess match. Vargas timed some good shots throughout the round; Ali got the better of a closing flurry.

Vargas, feinting to set up the lead left, was finding a home for the lead left hook. Ali, in exchanges, was often missing punches and landing only on the cuff of his wrist. That theme carried from the second into the early part of the fourth before Ali suddenly seemed to figure out the timing he needed. Busting Vargas with straight counter right and hard uppercuts, Ali looked like he had his man buzzed as the bell rang to end round four.

In the fifth, the pendulum swung back to Vargas. A body shot sent Ali into the ropes. While not hurt, Ali was knocked off balance and the ropes kept him up. It could have, perhaps should have, been ruled a knockdown. At the end of the round, Ali’s right eye was swelling. In the sixth it meant chances for Vargas to blind him with the jab and land thudding rights down the pipe.

Vargas started and finished the seventh round better but Ali was far from done. Remembering his uppercut, Ali battled back in the middle of the round and kept it close. Ali’s susceptibility to the right remained critical in the eighth. Having a decent round, Ali was toppled over with a huge right. Vargas was warned to stay in the neutral corner, breaking the count and perhaps allowing Ali precious seconds as the round came to a close.

A livid Vargas played to the crowd at the bell while Ali stumbled first to the wrong corner and then to his own on rubber legs. Vargas jumped right on him to start round nine. Ali tried to tie up but he couldn’t muster any real offense. Vargas scored another knockdown, again delayed as Chevalier forced him to the neutral corner. Ali tried to survive but when a final right hand from Vargas had him nearly on the floor, Chevalier made the fair call and halted the action at 2:09 of round nine.

Vargas picks up a belt in his second weight class after a brief run as a WBA titlist at 140 lbs. The WBO title was vacated when Timothy Bradley opted for a third fight with Manny Pacquiao over a defense against Ali. Bradley defeated Vargas for what was then the WBO’s interim welterweight title last year. Vargas was making his first start since that loss and picks up his first win at welterweight since 2013.

“This is what I’ve been working for all my life since I was eight years old,” an emotional Vargas declared during the post-fight interview. His future hopes were clear. He wants a rematch with Bradley, continuing that discussion with the assembled press after the fight. His promoter, Bob Arum, seemed open to the possibility should Bradley defeat Pacquiao next month.

Ali tried to stay optimistic in defeat. “Before the fight I felt really strong I felt very confident and sometimes that isn't enough. I need to go back to the drawing board and make sure to correct the mistakes that I made in the ring tonight. I'm going to come back better than ever.”

In a bout competitive only briefly, 31-year old featherweight Oscar Escandon (25-2, 17 KO), 126, of Tolima, Colombia, came off the floor in the second to break down and knock out 33-year old veteran Robinson Castellanos (23-12, 11 KO), 124 ½, of Celaya, Mexico. With the win, Escandon wins the interim WBC featherweight belt. The current WBC champion at featherweight is Gary Russell Jr. who was sidelined with an injury prior to a scheduled bout with Escandon in 2015. The referee was Frank Garza.

After a measured first where Escandon stalked the much taller Castellanos, Castellanos opened up in the second. Rocking Escandon back on his heels, Castellanos came forward with thudding long rights. A right over the top put Escandon on the deck at mid-ring. Escandon made it to his feet quickly and resumed his pressing attack.

The relentless pressure of Escandon wore on Castellanos in the third, both men landing hard body blows. Escandon continued to get the better of it in the fourth and had Castellanos badly hurt with a body shot in the fifth. The referee called a break for the ring doctor to take a look at a cut over the left eye. Deemed fit to continue, Castellanos marched back firing but still taking more than he could dish out.

A desperate Castellanos turned southpaw briefly in the sixth. It didn’t work any better than anything else he’d tried since a flicker of early success. After another brutal assault in the seventh, Escandon put the finishing touch on his effort. A vicious right uppercut near the ropes sent Castellanos down barely connected to his senses. The bell rang as Garza tolled the count, Castellanos unable to be saved by the bell. There was no effort to rise, the official time of the finish coming in at 2:59 of round seven.

Escandon was excited after the biggest victory of his career. “I feel very happy about this victory. It's been a long time coming and I'm very proud to take the title back to my country.” Escandon didn’t think much of the early knockdown. “When I was dropped the first time it was just a sting. I didn't get hurt and I realize that I needed to fight with more intelligence to make sure I secured this victory.” He did just that.

Escandon wins his first bout since April 2015, a split decision loss to Moises Flores. Castellanos was making his first start since a January 2015 victory over Rocky Juarez.

Local fans were loudly enthralled with 20-year old lightweight Lamont Roach Jr. (10-0, 3 KO), 131 ½, of Washington, DC. Roach scored a first-round knockdown and worked hard for an eight-round unanimous decision over 31-year old trial horse Jesus Lule (8-16-1, 1 KO), 133 ½, of Fort Myers, Florida. The referee was Billy Johnson.

Roach got off to an explosive start. Trapping Lule in the corner, Roach unleashed a torrent of leather to force a knockdown late in the first. Lule beat the count and settled in to earn his paycheck for the night. Lule stayed on his feet through the next five rounds, trading at close quarters, digging to the body and giving Roach some good work. Roach appeared to have Lule hurt late in the sixth but Lule refused to fall.

In the seventh, Lule was right back in the trenches and may even have won the round, catching Roach clean along the ropes late to the head and body. Roach resumed control in the final round, matching Lule’s aggression with pinpoint counters. With ten seconds to go, Lule was rocked but fired back to keep his feet and hear the closing bell as the fans gave a cheer to both men. Scores came in at 78-73, 79-72, and a too wide 80-72, all for Roach.

It was short work in the super middleweight division, at least for the super middleweight in the ring. 22-year old D’Mitrius Ballard (12-0, 8 KO), 168 ¼, of Washington, DC, pleased hometown fans with three knockdowns in round two for a stoppage of an overweight Liovsy Mayedo (8-3, 6 KO), 175, of Las Tuna, Cuba. Ballard found copious soft spots around the gut of Mayedo, dropping him with vicious hooks to the body before the stoppage was called at 1:40 of round two. Ballard’s stoppage victory halted a trio of decision wins. The referee was Marshall Cunningham.

In Jr. welterweight action, 23-year old Zachary Ochoa (14-0, 6 KO), 140, of Brooklyn, New York, got in some rounds in an easy victory over an outclassed 30-year old Rosbel Montoya (16-7-1, 13 KO), 140 ½, of Tamaulipas, Mexico. Ochoa couldn’t really hurt Montoya but he was an elusive target able to land his jab and command the length of the affair. Scores came in at 59-55 and 60-54 twice. The defeat was Montoya’s fifth in a row after being stopped in each of his last four fights. Ochoa may be a fighter we get used to seeing go to the cards. The referee was Brent Bovell.

25-year old featherweight Kevin Rivers (13-1, 10 KO), 126, of Palmer Park, Maryland, pounded out a one-sided sixth-round stoppage of Angel Aispuro (6-4-2, 3 KO), 126 ½, of Sinaloa, Mexico. River, quicker and vastly more skilled, got some good work in while weathering only token return fire. A shot in the final round left Aispuro with a gory right ear, prompting the ringside doctor onto the apron for a look. Deemed unfit to continue, the bout was halted at 2:17 of round six. Rivers rebounds from his first professional defeat in his last bout, a six-round majority decision loss.

23-year old lightweight Damon Allen (9-0, 3 KO), 135 ¼, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, showed off speed and efficiency en route to an entertaining unanimous decision over 23-year old Daniel Perales (6-4-1, 4 KO), 135 ¼, of McAllen, Texas. Allen couldn’t miss as the fight progressed, torturing Perales with flush long rights, left hooks, and body blows. The Texan was game though, absorbing the beating and firing back, landing often enough to engage the slowly assembling crowd. Allen received an earned trio of 60-54 scores in the six-round contest.

In the opening bout of the evening, 28-year old light heavyweight Todd Unthank-May (9-0, 3 KO), 177 ¾, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, worked through some exciting early exchanges with 34-year old Alexander Johnson (16-4, 7 KO), 175 ½, to score a unanimous six-round decision. Unthank-May steadily took over the fight, walking down Johnson through the second half for a workmanlike finish. Scores came in at 59-55, 58-55, and 59-53 for Unthank-May.   

The final two bouts of the evening were televised in the US on HBO as part of its “Boxing After Dark” series, promoted by Golden Boy Promotions in association with Top Rank, King Kong Boxing, and Warriors Boxing. Additional bouts were webcast on RingTV.com

Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene and a member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and the Boxing Writers Association of America.  He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com