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Mike CoppingerESPN
Jamel Herring and Shakur Stevenson will meet in the main event of a Top Rank card on Saturday at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta (ESPN, ESPN+, 10:30 p.m. ET, with undercard fights at 7:25 p.m. ET on ESPN+).
Herring (23-2, 11 KOs), 35, will defend his WBO junior lightweight title which he won in a unanimous decision victory against Masayuki Ito in 2019. Stevenson (16-0, 8 KOs), 24, will try to become a two-division champion after capturing the WBO featherweight belt in 2019 against Joet Gonzalez.
Also on the card, Muhammad Ali’s grandson, Nico Ali Walsh, faces James Westley II in a four-round middleweight battle, and Xander Zayas takes on Dan Karpency in an eight-round junior middleweight bout.
Stay here for live undercard results and analysis or watch the fights on ESPN/ESPN+
Next fight: Nico Ali Walsh vs. James Westley II, 4 rounds, middleweights
Results:
Holyfield stops Stanford in Round 2 to stay unbeaten
Evan Holyfield, the son of former heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, scored his biggest win yet with a highlight-reel KO of Charles Stanford in Round 2.
Holyfield (8-0, 5 KOs), of Atlanta, Georgia, connected flush with a left hook followed by a right cross that sprawled Stanford flat on the canvas, where he lay for a few minutes before finally making it to his feet. The ref reached the count of 10 at 30 seconds of the second round.
Stanford (6-4, 3 KOs) of Cincinnati had Holyfield pressed on the ropes and let his hands go wildly but missed with his shots, and instead, left himself wide open for the counterpunching opportunity.
“I’m very proud,” the elder Holyfield said of his son, who celebrated his 24th birthday on Saturday. “I know that he’s good but … it’s a beautiful thing every time.”
Isley overwhelms Navarro in first-round victory
In his first pro bout since representing the United States at the Olympics in Tokyo, Troy Isley scored a first-round KO of Nichols Navarro in a middleweight bout.
Isley (3-0, 2 KOs) overwhelmed his overmatched opponent with a barrage of punches from the opening bell. Navarro (2-2, 2 KOs) showed little interest in the punishment and turned his back on Isley, who continued to dole out a beating. Finally, Navarro, a 37-year-old from Denver, fell in a heap as the referee immediately waved it off at 2:48.
Isley, a 23-year-old from Alexandria, Virginia, won one fight at the Olympics before he was eliminated in the round of 16.
Palmer upsets Livsey in split decision win
Eric Palmer, a boxer with a losing record, handed hometown favorite Roddricus Livsey his first professional loss.
One judge scored the bout for Livsey, 59-55, which was overruled by two tallies of 58-56 in favor of Palmer.
Palmer (13-14-5, 1 KO) pressured Livsey and was able to time him with overhand rights. The 30-year-old from Pennsylvania was coming off a first-round TKO loss in August.
Livsey (8-1-1, 5 KOs), 38, was fighting for the fourth time this year.
Brady outpointed Negrete for decision win
Haven Brady Jr., was tested in his fourth pro fight and ate plenty of clean right hands from Roberto Negrete; but somehow, all judges scored the fight a shutout for Brady (40-36).
The 19-year-old featherweight from Georgia sought to outbox Negrete (3-1, 1 KO) from the outside while the Corpus Christi, Texas, native applied nonstop pressure. While Brady (4-0, 3 KOs) was effective with his jab, Negrete, 22, seemed to land the cleaner, harder shots.
Cobb scores KO of the year candidate against Campbell
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Antoine Cobb has the Top Rank announcers excited as he sends opponent Jerrion Campbell into the ropes with just one punch.
Antoine Cobb made his pro debut in sensational fashion with a brutal first-round knockout of Jerrion Campbell.
Cobb, 25, of Chicago, Illinois, unleashed an overhand right that sent his foe to the canvas sprawled out with his head resting on the bottom rope. Time of the stoppage was 58 seconds.
Campbell (2-2, 0 KOs) was stopped for the first time as a professional. The 29-year-old native of Germany has lost two in a row.
Mederos wins, doesn’t shine
Harley Mederos defeated Deljerro Revello via unanimous decision over four rounds to kick off the Herring-Stevenson undercard.
All three judges scored the fight a shutout, 40-35. The lightweight prospect scored a first-round knockdown but otherwise failed to impress in his second pro fight. Mederos, 21, from Brooklyn, New York, recklessly head-hunted during the bout but surely gained valuable experience.
Mederos (2-0, 1 KO) scored a first-round TKO in his pro debut in August. This fight was expected to be quick work, as well, but Mederos seemed to make little adjustments when it was clear he wasn’t going to score the KO.
Revello (0-2), a 25-year-old from Colorado, was knocked out in his pro debut in July.
Still to come:
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Title fight: Jamel Herring vs. Shakur Stevenson, 12 rounds, for Herring’s WBO junior lightweight title
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Xander Zayas vs. Dan Karpency, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
