On a night where eyes turned on Vegas for the MMA world Eddie Hearn had his gaze firmly fixed on his first DAZN show in Chicago.
Headlining the show Daniel Roman 26 (10 KOs)-2 (0 KOs)-1 beat British challenger Gavin McDonnell 20 (5 KOs)-2 (1 KO)-2 with a stoppage in the 10th round, in a fight that never lacked activity but in one where few meaningful punches were landed.
Roman will now be looking to unify the division either against WBC title holder Rey Vargas or IBF titlist Isaac Dogboe, however boxing politics and promotional differences could be the reason the fights get kicked down the road.
On the main undercard Artur Beterbiev 13 (13 KOs)-0-0 successfully defended his title with a 4th round knockout against Callum Johnson 17 (12 KOs)-1 (1 KO)-0. It could be a case with this fight that there is victory in defeat for Johnson, in a fight that no one predicted a Johnson win he was the first boxer to make Beterbiev look human, dropping him in the 2nd with Johnson’s signature left hook.
It was a fight where you couldn’t really take your eyes of the action in the knowledge that both have the power to change a fight quickly, which was evident early with Berterbiev scoring a knockdown after a right hand was landed after Johnson had his head through the ropes. Just as you would expect the end of the fight also ended suitably quickly with Beterbiev landing a right hand on the temple of Johnson on the way in, Johnson’s balance was shot and he failed to beat the count.
Though on paper it is another typical Beterbiev win, Johnson may have set a bit of a template on how to beat the feared Russian, pushing him back looking to punch with the Russian, and with a fighter with some more speed and slickness they may have very well have succeeded. Although Johnson went into the fight hoping to bring back the title for his late father there is no shame in losing here, especially in the fashion he showed, and his stock will only rise from this point on in a division that is stacked with huge punchers. Perhaps even a showdown with Anthony Yarde could be on the horizon because at 33 time is against the Boston man, but if he keeps showing heart to get in against the very best and performs like this boxing fans can have no complaints.
On the undercard Jessie Vargas 28 (10 KOs)-2 (0 KOs)-2 won a majority decision against Thomas Dulorme 24 (16 KOs)-3 (2 KOs)-1, and a 317 lbs Jarrell Miller 22 (19 KOs)-0-1 stops Poland’s Tomasz Adamek 53 (31 KOs)-6 (3 KOs)-0 in two.