OWENS DROPS SPIRITED DECISION; MORRELL REMAINS CHAMPION IN MNPLS
Ve Shawn Owens (now 13-3, 12 KO’s) of Minneapolis, MN lost a spirited but wide unanimous decision to Alberto Puello (now 20-0, 10 KO’s) of the Dominican Republic (residing in Las Vegas, NV) in PBC on Fox’s opening televised bout. The 140-pound lightweight bout went the full 10 rounds at another packed Mnpls Armory in Minneapolis, MN. Neither fighter was down nor seriously hurt despite some heavy punches being thrown in the fight. Owens came forward aggressively over ten rounds while Puello, a southpaw, countered with sharp, hard, and accurate shots.
The final scores read 98-92, 100-90, 99-91. Owens ended up throwing more punches, but Puello landed nearly double the shots landed when all was said and done.
The best round scorecard wise for Owens may have been the first as he pressed forward with punches in bunches despite taking a hard left to the chin near the end of the round. Puello let his hands go more in round two and Owens continued to pressure forward. A clash of heads in the second produced a bleeding cut to the side of the Minnesotan’s right eye. The cut would not be a factor moving later into the fight and the action resumed rough and tough on the inside afterward. Owens had more nice moments to close round two out with body and head shots while smothering the countering shots from Puello.
Puello began to pull away on the scorecards and control the fight after the fourth round, but Owens kept coming forward, stayed competitive and made the opening FOX televised bout entertaining for the viewers like always, with a huge smile on his face.
DAVID MORRELL JR. KEEPS TITLE WITH ANOTHER GREAT PERFORMANCE
Undefeated WBA super middleweight champion David Morrell Jr. (now 6-0, 5 KOs) scored a fourth round TKO over Alantez Fox (now 28-3-1, 13 KOs) in the headliner of the night. Morrell dropped Fox with a sharp left hook to the jaw in round four. Referee Mark Nelson was already watching the action closely as Fox was taking a beating. Fox’s corner (and father) climbed onto the ring and yelled to Nelson to stop the fight which it was at 2:06 of round four. A towel was thrown into the ring which turned out to be from Morrell’s corner after seeing the corner of Fox in effect stopping the fight.
Hard, fast, and powerful straight lefts to the head thudded off of the head of Fox to kick-off the fight. Morrell Jr. seemed to enjoy every moment of the fight, smiling and bouncing on his toes. He also switched from orthodox to southpaw with success. Fox battled back and landed some decent punches but was out-gunned and looked completely let down after the stoppage happened.
Morrell’s skills and impressiveness continue to rise but they will have to do so outside of Minnesota. The Fox broadcast team revealed that the Morrell will now leave Minnesota and relocate to Houston where he will work with new trainer Ronnie Shields. Morrell moved to Minnesota to avoid the potential distractions present in Florida, and it was distractions outside of the ring here that were given as his reason for leaving.
