Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield returned to the win column after defeating Michael Balasi this past weekend, November 8th, in San Francisco, CA at the Longshoremen’s Hall. In front of a sold out crowd, Mayfield lived up to his billing on the top of the card as he performed in front of friends and family showing that he still has it in him to get another run at a title shot.
Mayfield who early in the fight allowed Balasi to stalk him around the ring and was looking for an overhand right not unlike the one he landed on Raymond Serrano on ESPN2 Friday Night Fights. The problem was Balasi was durable and tough as he was able to withstand the blows and plow forward even after getting hit with several clean shots early in the bout. As the fight grew in length, Mayfield began to look stronger and get more comfortable in the ring. The last round of the fight saw Mayfield nearly knockout Balasi with a right hook that was coupled with an uppercut that seemed to jar Balasi from his senses, but Balasi was able to withstand an onslaught that brought deafening noise from the fans who wanted to see Mayfield win via knockout. In the end, Mayfield won an eight round decision by the scores of 79-73, 80-72 and 80-72.
In the co-main event, Martha Salazar claimed the allusive gold she has been waiting for all of her career as she won the WBC women’s heavyweight title by defeating Tanzee Daniel. Salazar controlled the action from start to finish as the best women’s heavyweight in the world put on a vintage performance for the ages as she outboxed Daniel for a good part of the fight as well as forced her onto the ropes and applied several sharp right hooks that showed Daniel’s toughness to perceiver through the punishment. Salazar won every round on the judges scorecards as all three of judges scored the fight 100-90.
Levan Ghvamichava is a force to be reckon with as he knocked out undefeated Jonathan Garcia after being stunned in the same round. After a fairly even round one, Garcia caught Ghvamichava in the middle of round number two that appeared to have hurt Ghvamichava badly. Then like a flash of lightening, Ghvamichava, landed a thunderous hook that sent Garcia away from reality. Though Garcia got up, it was not for long as Ghvamichava reintroduced Garcia to the canvas for a second time that would end the fight.
For Ghvamichava, a Virgil Hunter trained fighter, this marks the second bout in a row in which he knocked out an undefeated fighter in the second round. Ghvamichava a junior welterweight should be making his debut on the national stage soon and a title fight may not be far away as well.
Ricardo Pinell sent Rahman Yusubov to the canvas earlier, but appeared to tire as the fight went on as he recorded an unanimous decision win. Nonito Donaire Sr. trained fighter Adam Fiel returned to the ring after a long hiatus and showed impressive poise as Martinez landed a head butt in the third round that dramatically altered the fight as Fiel appeared to be on the verge of stopping Martinez up until that point. Otis “OT” Seymore earned a stunning knockout of Khrys Daniel in under a minute as his blazing hand speed was just too much for Daniel. In the opening bout, Marquita Lee defeated Laura Deanovic after one of the most enjoyable fights of the night that began the evening.
145 catchweight Karim Mayfield UD8 Michael Balasi (79-73, 80-72 x2)
Heavyweight Martha Salazar UD10 Tanzee Daniel (100-90 x3) ; Salazar becomes the WBC Women’s Heavyweight Champion
Junior Welterweight Levan Ghvamichava KO2 Jonathan Garcia
Junior Middleweight Ricardo Pinell UD6 Rahman Yusubov
Junior Lightweight Adam Fiel MD4 Cesar Martinez (40-36 x2, 38-38)
Welterweight Otis Seymore KO1 Khrys Daniel
126 lbs – Marquita Lee UD4 Laura Deanovic
