by Victor Salazar

Turning Stone Casino, Verona, New York - Brazilian Patrick Teixiera (25-0, 21 KO’s) knocked out his opponent from Patrick Alottey (30-2, 24 KO’s from Ghana. Both Middleweights came in with a high knockout percentage so the possibility of this bout not going to the cards was a good one. In a feel them out first round, Teixiera looked like the one with solid game plan setting traps to put Alottey in the ropes.

In the second round, Teixiera came out with a full assault adjusted his punches from head to body. In an exchange on the ropes, Teixiera landed a barrage of punches that had Alottey trapped on the ropes. The defining shot was a hook to the body that send Alottey to a knee, a knee he would not recover from

“I came prepared for 10 but it’s always good to get the knockout, “Teixeira said. “I’d like to get in more fights to get more seasoned to then go after a title shot.”

The end came at 2:04 of the second round as Teixeira notches his 21 knockout of his career.

Vitaly Kopylenko of Ukraine (25-1, 14 KO’s) won a unanimous decision over Lekan Byfield (6-8-2, 1 KO) from Atlanta. Kopylenko started out quick in the 1st round landing a left hook that sent Byfield off balance into the ropes. The ropes kept Byfield up forcing the referee to give Byfield an 8 count. Byfield took big right hands from Kopylenko but managed to survive the 1st round. Byfield fought most of the fight with his left hand down that made it an easy target for Kopylenko’s overhand right which he threw often and landed often. Byfield showed life in the round 5 landing a 3 punch combination that stopped the pressure coming from Kopylenko. The rest of the bout lacked much action with Kopylenko remaining the aggressor and taking over from his brief moment of trouble in the 5th round. The scores were 79-70 for all three judges.

The nephew of Acelino “Popo” Frietas, Vitor Jones De Oliveira (9-0, 5 KO’s) won a unanimous decision over Buffalo native, Guillermo Sanchez (12-15-1, 6 KO’s) 58-56 on one of the judge’s card and 59-55 on the other two scorecards. Much of the fight dragged in the action with boos coming in every round. De Oliveira was the busier fighter when it came to engagement but was not active enough to create much action.  De Oliveira notches his 9th win in the six round affair.

New York’s Sydney MacCow (3-2, 2 KO’s) scored a 1st round TKO over Paulo Souza (0-8) at 2:58 of the 1st round. Both fighters came out swinging for the fences from the onset. MacCow got the better of the exchanges landing a big right cross to stun Souza then sending him down with a straight left. Souza got up from the knockdown but couldn’t survive the onslaught with the ref stepping in to stop the fight seconds before the round ended.

Lamont Roach improved his undefeated record to 7-0 (3 KO’s) with a unanimous decision over Jose Miguel Castro (4-3, 2 KO’s. The two fighters traded blows in the 1st round with Roach dishing but not without receiving some firepower from the Puerto Rican Jose Miguel Castro. The action continued on the second with the prospect weathering overhand rights but shooting combinations forcing Castro to back off. After the 3rd round, Roach took over forcing his opponent to the rope stunning Castro in the 5th round. However, Roach fell short of finishing the opponent but won on all 3 judges’ cards 60-54.

In his second fight since losing his first as a pro, Eddie Gomez improved to 18-1 notching his 11th knockout victory over Jonathan Batista. The fight had bizarre moments with Gomez and Batista wrestling in the 5th round and Batista being docked a point for rough house tactics. Gomez was in control for majority of the fight landing head blows and body blows to Batista at will. At the start of the 6th round, Batista did not answer the bell giving Gomez the TKO victory to start the night in The Turning Stone Casino.