On June 13th KO Boxing put on a spectacular show in downtown Edmonton, Alberta in which Arash Usmanee made his in-ring return after his PPV fight with Ray Beltran.
In the main event Usmanee (20-2-1) took on Juan Ruiz (23-13) in an 8 round bout which was pretty entertaining. Usmanee controlled the early rounds with Ruiz slowly working his way into the fight. In round 4 Usmanee and Ruiz tangled up and both went down but Usmanee made it to his feet quickly and helped his opponent up. By the seventh round the good sportsmanship went out the window as the two began to trash talk each other in the ring and brawl. Ruiz was thrown to the canvas and a point deduction was taken away from Usmanee then later in the round Ruiz was deducted a point for low blows. The two fighters finished strong in the eght round and it went the distance. The judges scorecards read 78-72 twice for Usmanee and 75-75.
The co-main event featured fast rising welterweight prospect Josh Wagner (5-0) as he took on Dave Aucoin (3-12). Wagner was in control from the beginning. His fast handspeed and power showed as he constantly worked his opponents body and eventually knocked him down in the fourth round and continued punishing his opponent until his corner threw in the towel in the fifth round at 55 seconds in round 5.
Justin Hocko (0-0-1) and Wayne Smith (0-2-1) had a great back and forth fight but neither side recieved the satisfaction of a victory and ended up getting a draw instead. One scorecard read 39-37 in favor of Smith and the other two cards read 38-38.
Sheena Kaine (2-0) and late replacement fighter Lynell House (0-1) proved that women can put on just as good a show as men in their four round bout which had lots of toe-to-toe action.
Final scorecards read 39-37 and 40-36 in favor of Kaine and the last card read 38-38.
Suki Keo (3-0) took on Reece Chapman (0-2) in a four round bout in which the more experienced Keo was almost able to land at will but Champan was able to hang with Keo and land hard sweeping counter left and right hooks but would eventually go down in the fourth round. Keo wins a unanimous decision with scores of 40-35 twice and 39-36.
The second bout of the evening featured heavyweights Taylor Bull (2-4) and Cody Krahn (1-0) in a battle of strength and will. Krahn was able to take the fight to Bull whom was trying to box and outmuscle the taller fighter and knock him down in the first round. Bull seemed to go down in the second and third rounds from a mix of punches and getting tangled up. In the fourth round he was not so lucky as Krahn began landing more punches on Bull whom was out on his feet before the referee stepped in to stop the fight at one mintute 15 seconds to give Krahn the TKO victory.
The openeing bout featured two former MMA fighters as Cody Ries (3-0) took on Brent Halley (0-1). Ries took the fight to Halleym knocking him down onc in the 2nd and third round to which the referee stopped the bout.
