Morrell Jr. Defends Title In Crushing Fashion, Owens Stops Francisco In 140 Pound Debut

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Cuban sensation David Morrell, Jr. (now 5-0, 4 KO’s) of Minneapolis, MN successfully defended his WBA super middleweight title with a first round destructive knockout win over Mario Cazares (now 12-1, 5 KO’s) tonight at the MNPLS Armory. The opening moments were heated with Cazares fighting dirty and Morrell jr. eventually giving it back. Morrell Jr. remained composed and setup a hurtful left to the head that wobbled Cazares. A crushing follow up sent Cazares crashing to the canvas where referee Mark Nelson waived the fight off at 2:32 of the opening round. The Armory crowd celebrated along with Morrell Jr. who has quickly become a local favorite after debuting in Minneapolis in 2019.

Ve Shawn “Mr. Magic” Owens (now 12-2, 11 KO’s) of Minneapolis had a successful move down to the super lightweight division by stopping Joseph Francisco (now 8-3) at 2:38 of the fourth round. The fight took place after the main event and was not televised. Owens fought behind a solid jab and used pressure to walk down his shorter, thicker opponent with combinations. Owens’ relentless pressure with head and body shots began to visibly wear on Francisco by round three. After dropping Francisco with a left hook in the first round, Owens pounded his opponent in the fourth bringing on the stoppage at the 2:32 mark.

Rumors circulated afterwards that WBA welterweight champion Jamal “Shango” James would be returning to the Armory in August and that Morrell Jr. would like to face IBF Super middleweight champion Caleb Plant next. It’s telling of his skills when he is mentioned in the same breath as the other world champions with only five fights under his belt. Morrell Jr. announced after the win that he has added Armory owner Ned Abdul to his team as manager along side trainers Sankara and Adonis Frazier, and promoters Leon Margules and Luis DeCubas.

MORE RESULTS

Cruiserweight Brandon Glanton (now 14-0, 11 KOs) won a ten round split decision over Efetobor Apochi (11-1, 11 KOs) in the co-featured bout of the night. The two chiseled warriors spent most of the action trading heavy leather which connected for both men throughout. Glanton nearly had Apochi out in the sixth and Apochi was close to dropping Glanton as the bout came to a close. Final scores were 96-93 Apochi, 95-94, 95-94 Glanton.

Super lightweight All Rivera (23-5, 18 KOs) upset previously unbeaten Omar “El Relámpago” Juarez (11-2, 5 KOs) by majority decision. In a back and forth battle, Rivera was the stronger and sharper of the two particularly with the southpaw straight left. Juarez was always in the fight with speedy and sharp combinations. Final scores read 95-95, 95-94 and 95-93.

Super welterweight Nathaniel Gallimore (now 22-5-1, 17 KO’s) won by majority decision over Leon Lawson III (now 14-1, 7 KOs). It was a fun back and forth battle that could have gone either way.

Super welterweight Travon Marshall improved to (2-0, 1 KO) winning a four round unanimous decision over Ruben Torres (now 4-2, 1 KO). Marshall dropped Torres once in round three. Final scores read 40-35 on all three cards.

Super middleweight Alantez Foz (now 28-2-1, 13 KO’s) was too much for veteran Manny Woods (now 17-12-1, 6 KO’s, winning by seventh round TKO in the opening bout of the evening. Foz rocked Woods with a hard right hand to the head in the seventh and referee Gary Miezwa waived the fight off at 1:11 of the round.