Story & Photos by Bob Ryder
Cameran Pankey outdueled Carlos Torres in the eight-round main event of the latest presentation of promoter Carlos Llinas’ Night of Knockouts series at the MotorCity Casino in Detroit on Friday night.
The local favorite, Pankey, used his superior speed to earn a victory in an entertaining scrap over his Corpus Christi opponent. After fairly even first two rounds, featherweight Pankey began to take control in the third, landing crisp shots that turned the contest decisively in his favor. Torres maintained his work rate, but Pankey continually beat him to the punch in the exchanges.
Torres suffered a cut over his right eye in the fourth round that bled for the remainder of the bout. There was still plenty of good two-way action, as evidenced by the mouse under Pankey’s left eye. Torres tired as the fight progressed, and Pankey really began to tee off with hard punches in the final round, leaving Torres hanging on until the welcome sound of the final bell.
The scores of 80-72 twice and 79-73 for Pankey, while accurate, did not fully reflect how competitive many of the exchanges were. Pankey was simply the quicker fighter, improving his record to 15-1 (5 KOs), while a game Torres slipped to 6-6 (4 KOs).
In the six-round co-feature, Detroit’s Bryant Shamar Brown took the measure of Chicago’s Martez McGregor, winning a unanimous decision by scores of 60-54 on all three cards. Super middleweight Brown (4-0, 3 KOs) landed ripping left hooks to the body and head of McGregor (9-11, 7 KOs) in the second round to seize control. McGregor was bleeding from the mouth by the third round as Brown’s hooks continued to do damage. McGregor hung in there to make it interesting but was thoroughly outgunned.
Another scheduled six-round bout saw Detroit’s “Streetfighter” Dwane Taylor blast out Scotland’s Paul Peers with a one-punch knockout at 2:28 of the opening round. Junior welterweight Peers (3-5, 2 KOs) had nothing to keep Taylor (9-1, 8 KOs) at bay and paid the price.
The remainder of the card consisted of scheduled four-round bouts. In the featured matchup, Kronk Gym’s Hunter Lee showed improved power by dropping Pablo Fernandez of Mexico with a wicked body shot for a second-round knockout at 2:13. Junior middleweight prospect Lee improved to 6-0 (3 KOs), while Fernandez fell to 13-27 (6 KOs).
In the Fight of the Night, Detroit’s Gavyn Geck did not have an easy path in his professional debut against Duvai Gibbs. There was nonstop punching and spirited exchanges throughout the junior middleweight contest, keeping the crowd on its feet. Gibbs was knocked down twice in the opening round but got up to absorb heavy punishment the rest of the way. He also suffered a cut over his right eye in the third round that bled heavily. Geck showed excellent composure in earning his first professional victory, with all three judges scoring the bout 40-34. Gibbs falls to 3-3 (0 KOs), and the crowd gave him a loud ovation afterward for his determined effort.
Results of the remaining bouts:
Cruiserweight Cody Brooks (5-0-1, 3 KOs) defeated Bamidele Gray-Adeleye (0-2) by unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the bout 40-36.
Featherweight Thomas Covington (2-0, 2 KOs) scored a knockdown in the second round and two more in the third before stopping Nicholas Daniels (0-3) at 1:58 of the third round.
Junior middleweight Brandon Wilcox (3-0, 3 KOs) scored two knockdowns in the first round and three more in the second, forcing an automatic stoppage at 2:16 of the second round against Javonni Bennett (0-6).
In the opener, super middleweight Joshua Owen made a successful professional debut, stopping Nigel Cooper (0-4) by TKO at :40 of the first round.
Promoter Carlos Llinas announced that his next boxing show will take place on September 25 at the Sound Board inside MotorCity Casino.
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