Three world title fights and three decisions took place on the PPV undercard of Gervonta “Tank” Davis vs. Lamont Roach Jr on Saturday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY.
Gary Antuanne Russell delivered the most impressive performance, winning a one-sided unanimous decision over Jose Valenzuela to win the WBA junior welterweight title.
Albert Puello barely lived to tell the tale in his first title defense, defeating Sandor Martin by split decision. In the PPV opener, rising Cuban prospect Yoenis Tellez earned an interim belt with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Julian “J Rock” Williams.
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Here’s how all three undercard bouts played out.
Jose Valenzuela vs. Gary Antuanne Russell
Gary Antuanne Russell wasn’t going to let his second chance at a belt come to pass.
Russell (18-1, 17 KOs) turned in the best performance of his career, dominating Jose Valenzuela (14-3, 9 KOs) en route to winning the WBA junior welterweight title. His constant pressure, volume and blistering combinations proved to be too much for the former champion, as he busted him up and was in control from the opening bell.
The numbers proved how dominant Russell was. He landed 252 of 957 punches compared to just 127 of 443 for Valenzuela, per the broadcast.
The three judges scored the bout 120-108 and 119-109 twice.
Alberto Puello vs. Sandor Martin
Alberto Puello pulled out a razor thin split decision victory over Sandor Martin to stay undefeated and retain the WBC junior welterweight title. Two of the judges had it 115-113 and 116-112 in favor of Puello (24-0, 10 KOs), while the other judge scored it 115-113 in favor of Martin (42-4, 15 KOs). Three punches separated the two fighters in 9 of the 12 rounds.
Martin got off to a strong start with his combination punching and body work. Puello managed to stage a late rally similar to how he won the belt with a split decision victory over Russell.
The numbers favored Martin, as he landed 162 of 441 punches and 131 of 321 power shots per CompuBox. Puello landed 150 of 526 punches, but just 83 of 247 power shots. Puello’s jab helped bridge the gap in punches landed as he connected with 67 jabs compared to just 31 for Martin.
Yoenis Tellez vs. Julian Williams
Yoenis “El Bandolero” Tellez passed the toughest test of his career with relative ease, rolling to a unanimous decision victory over former unified junior middleweight champion Julian “J Rock” Williams to win the interim WBA junior middleweight title. The three judges scored the bout 119-109, 118-110 and 117-111.
Tellez (10-0, 7 KOs) seized control early in the bout and had Williams (29-5-1, 17 KOs) in some trouble in the third round. The undefeated Cuban coasted from that point on, landing 12 or more punches in 9 of the final 10 rounds, per CompuBox. Tellez landed 180 of 502 punches, including 94 of 214 power punches, while Williams landed 106 of his 399 punches and 49 of 150 power shots.
With the WBA interim title, Tellez is the de facto No. 1 contender for pound-for-pound great Terence Crawford’s title. Should Crawford vacate his belt ahead of his impending bout against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Tellez could be in line to get elevated to full titlist or fight for the full belt.