Lockett Takes a Knee Three Times: Corner Throw in the Towel

Kelly Pavlik TKO3 Gary Lockett... In Atlantic, Cuty, New Jersey, Kelly Pavlik made a quck, easy and dominant defense of his world middleweight championship.  Gary Lockett took a knee three times and his corner threw in the towel.  Locket came into the ring with a mean look on his face but it was quickly humbled by the Pavlik jab and straight right hand.  Lockett threw a few punches that landed flush but it was all Pavlik from the opening bell.  Kelly Pavlik did what he was supposed to do, blasting out a virtual unknown.  With his mandatory out of the way, Pavlik will look to bigger and better fights and hopefully so will HBO.       

Juan Manuel Lopez TKO1 Daniel Ponce De Leon... Juan Manuel Lopez burst into the mainstream boxing world tonight with a devastating first round TKO of hard-hitting WBO 122-pound titlist Daniel Ponce De Leon.  Lopez landed a flush right hand on the button that floored De Leon.  As Ponce rose to his feet it was clear that he was disoriented.  De Leon tried to throw punches to keep Lopez at bay but Lopez refused to back down, throwing multiple barrages and thrashing De Leon in the corner.  Lopez wins a world title at the hands of a brutal TKO. 

Kevin Mitchell TKO5 Walter Estrada... Did Estrada Quit?Estrada came out firing and landed a barrage midway through round one.  Mitchell looked to be on shaky ground but recovered nicely landing the straight right hand multiple times.  Mitchell set the pace in round 2, jabbing effectively setting up power punches.  Estrada is certainly game, landing his fair share of power punches, but Mitchell is pressing the action and landing as well.  Round 3 goes to Mitchell.  In round 5, Mitchell dropped Estrada with a vicious left to the body.  As Estrada rose from his feet, he did not want to continue.  Mitchell improves to 27-0 with 20 knockouts.  

Jorge Diaz W5 Gino Escamilla:  Jorge Diaz looked impressive in the first round working the jab followed by the straight right hand.  Diaz effectively executed beautiful body work that landed flush and heavy.  Escamilla laded some big shots in round 2, a left hook followed by a straight right and then a vicious uppercut at the end of the round.  Diaz came out more aggressively in the 3rd, landing body shots at will that set up a straight right hand upstairs.  Escamilla tried to pick up the pace and keep Diaz on the outside but it was ineffective.  Diaz pushed the action and won the round clearly.  Rounds 4 and 5 were more of the same as Jorge Diaz improved to 5-0 with 4 knockouts.

Demetrio Soto KO1 Gustavo Mejia: 58 seconds into round 1, Soto landed a left hook bomb on Mejia.  The referee did not even need to count as Mejia lay motionless for nearly 30 seconds.  Mejia appeared to be OK by the time the ring announcer paid homage to Soto.