In a battle where someone’s ‘0’ had to go, it was Tahmir Smalls who held on to his.
The 25-year-old Smalls of Philadelphia defeated Seantorious Martin by unanimous decision on Friday night at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston, Texas. The eight-round welterweight bout headlined a Red Owl Boxing card on DAZN.
The scores were 77-75, 77-75 and 78-74, all for Smalls (12-0, 8 KOs), who defeated Martin (10-1, 6 KOs) of Marietta, Ga. sent to his first defeat.
The bout was a significant step up for both, as neither had previously fought in an eight-rounder or faced an undefeated opponent.
““My corner told me to keep jabbing and keep my hands up,” said Smalls, who trained with IBF welterweight titleholder Jaron “Boots” Ennis for this fight. “Martin caught me with a right hand or two, but that was because I dropped my left hand. I picked it up at the end of the fight. I’ll go back to the gym and work on it.”
In the co-main event, Elijah Williams won the top prize in the 140-pound tournament, defeating Dion Jones by sixth round. Williams (10-1, 4 KOs) of Newburgh, NY had to get up from the canvas after being dropped by a check hook in the opening round before eventually defeating Jones (7-1, 6 KOs) of Las Vegas by overwhelmed his aggression. Williams hurt Jones with an overhand right along the ropes, causing Jones to stumble and stop the fight without going down.
“I did what I had to do, he’s a good fighter. I got a little careless at times, especially early in the fight,” said the 21-year-old Williams.
“It depends on the referee how the fight goes. I went for the kill, so all he did was stop it a little early.”
In earlier results, Joshafat Ortiz (13-1, 6 KOs) defeated Travis Crawford (7-3, 2 KOs) by unanimous decision in a six-round junior lightweight bout, with the scores 58-55 on two cards and 57-56 on the third.
