DETROIT — Ardreal “Bossman” Holmes Jr. of Flint, Michigan effectively defended his USBA Super Welterweight Championship by stopping Marlon Harrington of Detroit in the second round.
Holmes(15-0, 6 KOs), a 6′ 2″ southpaw and 2016 U.S. Olympic alternate, fought in the 10-round, all-Michigan main event of the inaugural “Big Time Boxing USA” event, presented by Salita Promotions and live streamed on DAZN from Wayne State Fieldhouse in Detroit. In the opening frame, Holmes was cautious of Harrington’s strength, but in the second, he opened up with a potent southpaw left hand.
The pro-Harrington crowd was left perplexed when referee Ansel Stewart declared at 1:25 of round two that he had had enough. Holmes had entered the fight intending to mix things up more, but he suddenly couldn’t miss with his astonishingly accurate southpaw blows and felled a seriously shaken Harrington(10-2, 9 KOs) three times.
Holmes’ remarkable triumph marked his first attempt to defend the USBA title he had won in June of last year. Despite having only five career knockouts, Holmes claims the outstanding outcome was planned perfectly. “Not to sound cocky, but I expected to win like that,” said Holmes, in media reports.
“We have been working on sitting down on punches. I’m not going to lie and say I expected it that soon though. This fight put me back into the championship mode I need to stay in,” he added.
In the co-main event of the evening, challenger Britton Norwood (13-5-1, 10 KOs) was stopped in the fourth round by undefeated USBA Light Heavyweight Champion Ali Izmaylov (12-0, 8 KOs).
Izmaylov moved his attack upstairs in round three, dropping Norwood with a body shot in the second and cutting his face open in the third. After being badly injured by a left hook, Norwood was knocked down again in the fourth round with a body shot. It wasn’t long after that Izmaylov completed the task, and Casamayor asked the referee to waive it off at 1:28.
Joseph Hicks Jr.(10-0, 7 KOs) , the captain of the 2020 US Olympic Team and an undefeated super welterweight from Grand Rapids, Michigan, successfully stopped Ricardo Ruben Villalba (20-11-1, 8 KOs) after a few close rounds.
