On June 12th, KO Boxing Promotions hosted a fantastic night of fights titled “Adrenaline Rush” which took place at the Shaw Conference Centre in downtown Edmonton, Alberta, Canada which featured Canadian lightweight prospect “Irish” Cam O’Connell’s return to the ring after a 15-month absence.
O’Connell (7-0-1, 5 KO’s) faced the toughest test of his young career as he faced off against his most experienced opponent Mario Perez (17-7-4, 10 KO’s) in an exciting fight that featured plenty of back and forth action and both fighters taking big shots.
O’Connell was the aggressor throughout the fight with Perez bouncing around the ring and trying to dodge the onslaught of punches from O’Connell. Perez would often catch O’Connell as he would try to work his way in but the pressure and heavy hands from O’Connell would prove to be the difference maker in the fight as Perez hits the canvas in the eighth round.
O’Connell would go on to win by unanimous decision with the scorecards reading 79-73, 79-72 and 78-73.
The co-main event featured Colombian (by way of Mississauga, Ontario) Sam Vargas (21-2-1, 11 KO’s) taking on Cesar Chavez (26-9, 14 KO’s) of Mexico City.
Vargas was in control from the opening bell as he stalked Chavez around the ring and often connecting and eventually making quick work of his overmatched opponent, sending Chavez down to the canvas with a counter left hook. Chavez was able to make it to his feet, but his legs were not there which prompted the referee to stop the bout. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgtRJBqDRvU)
Middleweight prospect Cody “The Renegade” Reece improved his record to 6-0, 2 KO’s after getting the better of Brad “The Boogeyman” Soanes (2-7-1, 2 KO’s) in a toe to toe battle. Reece was in control throughout the bout, but Soanes stood in the pocket exchanging and almost going down on a couple different occasions.
Hometown favorite Paul “P-Mac” Mackenzie (7-0-1, 5 KO’s) stopped Lee Main (1-2, 1 KO) with a third-round TKO.
Main was a game opponent and landed some good shots on MacKenzie, but MacKenzie’s defence and power counter punches proved to be too much, as Main took lots of punishment, which prompted the referee to step in and stop the bout.
The second bout of the evening featured two welterweight fighters making their professional debut. Flavio Michel of Montreal made quick work of Sharvin “The Sultan” Soltani with a vicious counter right hook (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kv4SfOHy1k).
The opening bout featured light welterweight prospect Mike McWilliams (4-0-2, 2 KO’s) taking on Ryan Ince (0-2).
McWilliams was in control throughout the first round and almost sent Ince down. McWilliams boxed smart and aggressively to put a beating on Ince, which continued until the third round when the referee stopped the bout due to the amount of punishment Ince sustained.
