VIRGIN HOTELS LAS VEGAS – Super featherweight prospect Tyler McCreary (16-2-1) returned to action for the first time since his November 30th, 2019 unanimous decision loss to Carl Frampton and was upset by Manuel Rey Rojas (21-5).  McCreary started off strong using his superior boxing ability but was unable gain control of the early rounds.

Rojas absorbed some shots but was unhurt and kept bringing the fight to McCreary. He had a lot of success in the 4th round, landing several body shots and uppercuts to the head. McCreary recovered to box well in the 5th but Rojas had a good round 6 and ended the 7th round with a right hand to wobble McCreary again.

McCreary was able to recover in the 8th but didn’t do enough to win the round. However, the fight seemed closer than the final scores indicated. 79-73 and 80-72 twice for Rojas were the final tallies.

John “El Terrible” Bauza (15-0) kept his perfect record intact with a over 2nd round TKO win over Christon Edwards (12-3) in their strange super lightweight bout.

About thirty seconds into the opening round Edwards turned his back to look at the ref and was hit with two clean shots as he waited for the referee to pause the fight.  He had entered the ring without his mouthpiece and was escorted back to his corner where it was applied by his trainer.  

A moment later he was spun off balance and then floored by Bauza just before the bell sounded.  He never fully recovered and was sent to the canvas again mere seconds into the second round and hit the canvas for a third time which was enough for Robert Hoyle who stopped the fight at the 40 second mark.

Top Puerto Rican prospect Zander Zayas (9-0) continued his progression in the pro ranks with a TKO over Larry Fryers (11-4).

Zayas' power was on display early and often as he took the fight to Fryers who hails from Clones, Ireland.  The 18-year-old used a crisp jab to control the distance and pummeled the normally sturdy Fryers into submission.  

The fight was called to a halt at 1:02 of round 3. This was only the second stoppage loss of Fryers’ career.  Zayas signed with Top Rank Inc. at the age of 16.

In a battle of unbeaten featherweights, Bryan Lua (8-0) defeated Puerto Rico’s Frevian Gonzalez (4-1) by unanimous decision.  Both fighters came out firing and skipped the feeling out process entirely.  Lua landed a big right hook that stunned Gonzalez at the end of the first round.

Gonzalez recovered and landed some solid shots of his own in the second but was largely overshadowed by Lua’s superior work rate.  

Gonzalez started landing with more regularity in the 3rd and 4th round but Lua picked the pace back up in the 5th and 6th to close the show strong.  The final tallies read 60-54 twice and 58-56.

Troy “Transformer” Isley (2-0) was barely touched in his second professional bout against LaQuan Evans (4-2-). The 22-year-old was in control from the opening bell with a well-placed jab and precision counter punching.

He picked up the pace in the 4th round and Barboza threw almost nothing in return which prompted referee Russell Mora to stop the bout at the 2:26 mark.  Isley will next turn his attention to the delayed 2020 Olympic games that are slated to take place next month in Tokyo, Japan.

In the previous bout, Kasir Goldston (3-0) pitched a shutout against Maurice Anthony (3-2) in their welterweight bout.  The 5’10” southpaw from Albany, New York was almost perfect as he controlled the distance against his overmatched opponent.  The final tallies were 40-36 on all three scorecards.

Jahi Tucker opened up the Shakur Stevenson- Jeremia Nakathila undercard by defeating Ysrael Barboza (3-2-1) by the scores of 40-36 on all three scorecards.  The action started slow as both fighters felt each other out.  By the end of the first round Tucker had figured Barboza out and cruised to the easy decision victory.