Business & Tech

GALLERY: Boxing at Morongo Casino

Friday night's event was billed "The New Generation on Showtime" with three bouts aired live on premium cable.

A full fight card Friday night at Morongo Casino Resort & Spa featured Jermain Taylor vs. Jessie Nicklow in the main event, which was televised by Showtime along with two co-featured bouts.

Four fights on the undercard provided ample warmup for a vocal crowd in the casino's second floor ballroom.

Heavyweights squared off in the first fight, and Ismaikel "Mike" Pérez, 26, of Cuba, based in Cork, Ireland, defeated Friday Ahunanya, 40,of Nigeria, who is based in Las Vegas.

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In the second undercard bout, featuring much faster light welterweight fighters, Ivan "Junito" Redkach, 25, of Ukraine, based in Los Angeles, defeated Dillet "Dynamite" Frederick, 29, of Florida.

The third fight Friday night ended with Alejandro "Alex" Luna, 20, of Bellflower, defeating Marcos Herrera, 23, of Denver, in a junior lightweight contest.

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In the final undercard fight, José Pedraza, 22, of Puerto Rico, knocked out Herbert Quartey, 23, of Ghana, in the fifth round.

Taylor (29-4-1, 18 KOs), of Little Rock, Ark., scored an eighth-round knockout over Jessie Nicklow (22-3-3, 8 KOs), of Baltimore, Md., according to Showtime, which aired the bout live on its premium cable network.

Andre Dirrell (20-1, 14 KOs), of Flint, Mich., scored two knockdowns in a second-round knockout over Darryl Cunningham (24-3, 10 KOs), of Detroit, in the co-feature, according to Showtime.

In the opening bout of the telecast, former Cuban amateur Luis "El Leon” Garcia (12-0, 9 KOs) of Cork, Ireland, won his United States debut by beating Alexander "The Great” Johnson (12-1, 5 KOs, 1 NC) of Oxon Hill, Md., in an eight-round decision, according to Showtime.


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