Unbeaten Austin Brooks (12-0-1, 5 KOs) successfully defended his World Boxing Association (WBA) Continental USA super featherweight title last night, albeit by way of an unpopular 10-round split draw with dangerous Aram “Warrior” Avagyan (11-1-3, 5 KOs).
The fight took place in the main event on the entertaining “EQC Fight Night” card, presented by Toro Promotions, Inc., in association with Whitfield Haydon Boxing, at the famed Emerald Queen Casino (EQC) in Tacoma, Washington.
Fighting out of San Diego, the 28-year-old Brooks needed a strong rally in the final two rounds of a thrilling throw-back fight against Avagyan, the 2016 Armenian Olympian, to retain his WBA Continental USA crown in front of a standing only crowd.
Aram relentlessly pressured Brooks from the start and it appeared the fight was getting away from the defending champion. Both fighters had their moments through the first action-packed eight rounds, but Aram’s exceptionally high work rate appeared to have him on his way to victory. Brooks, though, to his credit picked his spots and took the last two critical rounds for the hard-earned draw.
Toro Promotions’ growing stable of large, talented heavyweights, including Dante Stone (16-1, 11 KOs) and Alexander “The Great” Flores (19-4-1, 17 KOs), was on display last night as Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh and Tsotne Rogava (9-0, 7 KOs) were both in action.
Ibeh(13-2-1, 10 KOs), who is a native of Nigeria now living in Phoenix, is a cousin of the retired, infamous heavyweight boxer Ike Ibeabuchi. Ibeh, who played college football at Washburn University, as well as professionally in the Canadian Football League, completely dominated former Texas champion Juan Torres (11-7-1. 4 KOs).
The 6’ 4”, 300-pound Ibeh was simply too big and strong for Torres, who was floored four times enroute to a second-round knockout for Ibeh.
Tsotne, a fast riser with tremendous upside, showed that he’s a good boxer in addition to having lethal power, going the complete distance for the scone time in a row. The 2020 Ukraine Olympian used his 6’ 5”, 270-pounder frame and deceptive quickness to dominate battle-tested Jon Bolden (10-14-1, 7 KOs) in the eight-round Special Heavyweight Attraction.
The Georgia-born Rogava, who now resides in Marina del Rey (CA), and is trained by Hall of Famer Joe Goossen, dropped Bolden in the second and fifth rounds in a near shutout decision, winning all eight rounds on two of the judges’ scorecards, seven on the other, in a match somewhat marred by Bolden’s constant clinching in a survival mode.
Undefeated Nicaraguan super featherweight prospect Nilo Guerrero (9-0, 7 KO), a 2016 Nicaragua Youth National Champion who lives in Coachella (CA), extended his impressive win streak to nine, taking a dominate six-round unanimous decision against veteran Diuhi “Elegante” Olguin (16-38-7, 10 KOs). The 23-year-old Guerrero, 23, once again skillfully used his abnormal 6’ 1” height and length for a super featherweight to his advantage.
Also fighting on the undercard in four-rounders were Hoquiam (WA) super welterweight Nathan “Superman” Stolen (2-0, 1 KO), who won a four-round split decision over Julio Munoz, Jr. (0-1-1), in an all-out slugfest in which the two fighters fought like Rockem Sockem robots, while Auburn (WA) lightweight Agustin Tovar (1-0) defeated pro debuting Miquel Gonzales (0-1) in a spirited encounter that featured a high volume of punches with Tovar clearly landing the crisper shots.
