BRANDUN LEE CONTINUES IMPRESSIVE KNOCKOUT STREAK WITH DOMINATING PERFORMANCE ON SHOBOX: THE NEW GENERATION
*Rising undefeated super
lightweight prospect Brandun Lee passed his latest test in dominating
fashion in the highly anticipated main event on *ShoBox: The New Generation*,
registering a devastating third-round knockout over Samuel Teah Wednesday
night from Mohegan Sun Arena and live on SHOWTIME. *Click here to watch
Brandun Lee’s entry for ‘Knockout of the Year’ consideration.*
The 21-year-old Lee (22-0, 20 KOs), a college junior from La Quinta,
Calif., knocked down the veteran Teah (17-4-1, 7 KOs) for the first time in
his career with a powerful combination, which was followed by a massive
right hand that knocked Philadelphia’s Teah out cold ending the fight at
1:43 of the third round.
Following the knockout blow, *ShoBox* play-by-play announcer Barry Tompkins
said, “That was a case of being over before it was over.”
Fellow International Boxing Hall of Famer Steve Farhood added, “This puts
(Lee) at a different level now.”
Lee was fighting for the fourth time on *ShoBox*, and put an exclamation
point on an exciting night of fights. “Honestly, I don’t think I learned a
whole lot tonight,” said Lee, who extended his knockout streak to 13 in a
row. “I knew he couldn’t outbox me. I knew he couldn’t outpunch me. I knew
the knockout was going to come and that one was definitely one of my top
one or two favorites so far in my career.”
Following the telecast, Farhood added: “I think it’s too early to call him
a contender, but there are so many remarkable young fighters in boxing
today around 135, 140 (pounds). He now becomes one to watch. Everything to
this point was nice, but this was really impressive and made him a special
prospect.”
Lee called the victory his biggest accomplishment yet. “It was a step up in
competition and even the betting odds were way closer than usual,” Lee
said. “Most of the time, I’m a -5,000 favorite or something like that and
this time it was only -1,000. I was getting a lot of DM’s on Instagram and
Twitter of people telling me that Sam is going to be tough. Sam is going to
beat you. But hopefully, the doctors check him out and everything is all
good.”
In the prelude to the main event, super featherweight prospect Jordan White
(11-1, 9 KOs) scored an impressive sixth-round technical knockout victory
over previously undefeated Misael Lopez (11-1, 5 KOs) in an all-action
fight scheduled for eight rounds.
*Watch White’s emphatic TKO **HERE*
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A devastating overhand right hand by Maryland’s White knocked down
Colorado’s Lopez with 45 seconds remaining in the sixth round. Lopez hit
the floor again moments later after a barrage of power punches that sent
Lopez to the canvas once again. The 24-year-old prospect rose to his feet
to beat the count before the fight was officially stopped at 2:40 of the
sixth round.
“I would grade my performance as a B- or C+,” White said. “This was a big
win, but honestly, it’s just the beginning. We’re going to come back better
and stronger each time.”
At the time of the stoppage the 23-year-old White was ahead 48-47 on two
scorecards while Lopez had a 48-47 nod on the third scorecard. White
outlanded Lopez 146-92 in total punches and landed 47% of his power
punches.
“In the first couple rounds, I hit him with a few good body shots,” White
said. “I knew I had him with my power. When I hit him with the right
uppercut that hurt him in the sixth, I was like, ‘Okay, I’m going to pace
it out a little bit. I’m not going to rush the knockout.’ And I was
patient. After the uppercut, I set up a couple hooks, an overhand, and it
was lights out.”
In a fight with several key momentum shifts, White had a dominating third
round, connecting on numerous effective body blows that seemed to stagger
Lopez.
Lopez was fighting for the first time in 17 months. It was Lopez’s second
*ShoBox* appearance as he scored an upset win over James Wilkins in
September of 2018.
In a battle of unbeaten lightweights, Philadelphia’s Steven Ortiz (12-0, 3
KOs) outlasted a game Jeremy Hill (14-1, 9 KOs) in a unanimous eight-round
decision victory. The judges scores were 79-73 and 77-75 twice.
The 27-year-old Ortiz, who threw nearly 100 more jabs than Hill in the
bout, started quickly and then did enough down the stretch to earn the
victory over New Orleans’ Hill. Despite earning a convincing win, Ortiz was
not impressed with his performance.
“Honestly, I’d give myself a D,” said Ortiz, a five-time Pennsylvania
Golden Gloves Champion. “Only because I feel like I came out beautifully in
the beginning and I stopped being consistent with the jab and stopped doing
the things that were working. I hurt my right hand a little bit and he hit
me in the back with a kidney shot that slowed me down a little bit, so I
was upset at that. Besides that, we took on a guy that was 14-0 with 9
knockouts after a year-and-a-half layoff. Most guys would never do that.”
Both fighters landed precisely 98 punches during their eight-round affair,
but it was Hill who won the accuracy battle on the night as he landed 28
percent (98-344). Ortiz worked well behind his jab, landing 41 of 222
thrown while Hill only connected on nine total.
“I definitely disagree with the scorecards, and if you look at the punch
stats they disagree too,” Hill said. “If not a split-decision, it should
have been a draw. I blame myself for letting it be that close but all he
did was hold and complain. That should have went my way. I gave away the
first two rounds. I started pushing in the third round and the fight was
mine after that. I made him cower. I’m not happy with my overall
performance because I know what I can do, but I wasn’t hurt. I wasn’t
tired. I had him running and backing up. I felt as though that should have
gone my way.”
Ortiz was fighting for the first time in nearly 18 months. “He was a good
fighter,” Ortiz said. “He was disciplined. If I didn’t have the long
layoff, I would have stopped him. Guaranteed. I hurt him plenty of times.
If I was just a little sharper and a little more consistent, I would have
gotten him out of there.”
In the opening bout of the telecast and a matchup of unbeaten lightweight
prospects, Victor Padilla (9-0, 8 KOs) of New Jersey overcame a first-round
knockdown to register a fifth-round TKO win over former sparring partner
Thomas Velasquez (10-1-1, 6 KOs).
*Watch Padilla’s stoppage victory **HERE*
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Following an onslaught of combinations by New Jersey’s Padilla, referee
Danny Schiavone called off the bout at 1:56 of the fifth round. The
22-year-old Puerto Rican native Padilla had turned the fight around
following a slow start and dominated the fourth round. He staggered
Philadelphia’s Velasquez with multiple flush right hands prior to sending
him to the canvas with a left hook in the fifth frame, marking the first
knockdown suffered by the 25-year-old in his young career.
“My timing was a little off,” said Padilla, who claimed he slipped and was
not hurt when he went down in the first round. “I was trying to throw with
a lot of power so that’s why I was missing so much. He wasn’t catching me
but he was making me miss. By the start of the fourth round, I started to
relax and I realized that when I started putting pressure on him he didn’t
know what to do. I just needed to calm down and let the knockout come
naturally.
“Next fight, you’re going to see a better me. That’s the plan. I’m growing.
I’m just 22 years old. I’m growing in the sport and I’m growing as a man.
I’m a lot wiser now. I’m happy for the opportunity and I thank SHOWTIME for
the chance to show my talents. It wasn’t exactly the way we wanted, but we
got the job done.”
Padilla landed 41 percent of his power punches (58 of 140) compared to 34
percent for the southpaw Velasquez (51 of 151). Velasquez was ahead on all
three scorecards (39-37, 38-37 x2) at the time of the stoppage.
“I can’t say if the stoppage was early or not right away,” Velasquez said.
“I have to go back to the video and watch it. A fighter isn’t going to say
that they should have called it. I was executing the game plan pretty well
up until that point. It was just a real good punch that I didn’t see.”
Wednesday’s *ShoBox: The New Generation* telecast will replay on Thursday,
March 11 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME.
International Boxing Hall of Famer Barry Tompkins called the action from
ringside with fellow Hall of Famer and boxing historian Steve Farhood and
former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The
executive producer was Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick
Phillips directing.
The event was promoted by DiBella Entertainment and D&D Boxing.
