Joe George KO9 Marco Escudero... In the opening bout of the Showtime telecast, light heavyweight Joe George (11-0, 7 KOs) scored a brutal ninth-round knockout of Marco Escudero (10-2, 9 KOs) in a rematch of their November ShoBox showdown. George won a heavily-debated split decision in 2019, but this time, he left no room for debate. At 3:00 of round number nine, George caught Escudero with a left uppercut that sent Escudero flat on his back in a candidate for KO of the Year. At the time of the stoppage, George was behind on two of the judges’ scorecards, 79-73 and 77-75, and ahead on one judge’s card, 79-73. Prior to the one-punch KO, George was getting out-landed 127-89 by Escudero, and Escudero held a 2-1 edge in punches thrown.

 

“I was setting him up with the jab to the body, I had him leaning over a little,” said Houston’s George, who turned 31 on Friday. “I was shooting the right uppercut, some landed and some didn’t. I wanted him to get comfortable and relaxed, and that’s exactly what he did. He was relaxed and I slipped over and just shot it. He gave it to me and I had to take it. It put him down. The result is self-explanatory. I don’t have to say nothing. I’m willing to fight whoever next. One fight at a time and I’ll be prepared for whatever’s on the way.” source: showtime press release