April 9, 2012Location: San Antonio, Texas
Kelly Pavlik TKO2 Aaron Jaco (super middleweights)
On Saturday night, Pavlik (38-2, 33 KOs), the former middleweight champion, wasted little time on his latest comeback trail. In the first round, a Pavlik left hook dropped Jaco (15-3, 5 KOs) for an eight count. In the second, another left hook dropped his overmatched opponent. Jaco rose on wobbly legs but was too discouraged to continue prompting a referee stoppage. Pavlik may next headline an ESPN “Friday Night Fights” card in Las Vegas on June 8.
Location: Cancun, Mexico
Sergio Thompson TKO2 Jorge Linares (lightweights)
WBC Title eliminator
Once upon a time Linares (31-3, 20 KOs) was perceived as a future boxing star. That view quickly changed when he suffered knockout losses to Mexicans Juan Carlos Salgado and Antonio DeMarco. Going into his bout with Thompson (22-2, 20 KOs), the Mexican with an English last name, Linares was favored to win to solidify a rematch with DeMarco. However, Thompson had other plans in mind.
Both fighters landed solid punches in the first round but at the end of the round Linares was the one marked up in the area around his left eye. In the second, Thompson landed a big right hand which quickly got Linares’ attention. Sensing Linares was hurt, Thompson went for the kill by unleashing a series of punches, a few of which opened up a cut over Linares’ left eye. With blood streaming from his eye, Linares continued to absorb punches, until he finally hit the canvas. As soon as a bloody Linares rose to his feet, the referee brought him to the corner to have the cut examined by the ringside physician. The physician deemed Linares’ cut was too severe to have him continue and instructed the referee to a call a halt to the bout. The victory puts Thompson in a position to challenge Demarco for the WBC lightweight title.
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