Unbeaten lightweight Jose Pedraza (11-0, 7 KOs), of San Juan, Puerto Rico, dominated late replacement Tevin Farmer (7-4-1, 1 KO), of Philadelphia, Penn., en route to an eighth round TKO in the main event Friday on ShoBox: The New Generation live on SHOWTIME®.
Pedraza, who many regard as the best prospect to come out of Puerto Rico since Miguel Cotto, began the night cautiously, using the first round to feel out his opponent and get comfortable in the ring. However, by the middle of the second round Jose found his rhythm and took control of the fight. In the third round, Pedraza enforced his will with an onslaught of punches lasting for most of the last minute of the round. Farmer, never quite recovering, was still a game opponent and continued to show his heart through Pedraza's domination.
In the eighth round and final round, Farmer threw a punch that seemed to connect with Pedraza's elbow clearly injuring his left hand. With 0:47 gone in the round, referee Celestino Ruiz stopped the fight after Pedraza sent a flurry of body shots to finish off Farmer.
"After the second round it was all Pedraza," said SHOWTIME announcer Raul Marquez after the fight. "There's only so much punishment a fighter can take."
In the co-feature at Ameristar Casino, Lamar Russ (11-0, 7 KOs), of Wilmington, N.C., registered an impressive first round knockout over previously undefeated Jonathan Cepeda (12-1, 11 KOs), of Jersey City, N.J. The quick fight ended at 1:45 when Cepeda was unable to recover from a devastating blow and properly respond to referee Mike England's request to look at and walk to him.
Earlier in the night, former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain "Bad Intentions" Taylor (31-4-1, 19 KOs) impressed the crowd with a dominating second round knockout of Raul Munoz (21-16-1, 16 KOs). The 10-round bout was stopped at the 1:05 mark in the second round after a powerful straight-right punch sent Munoz falling to the canvas. Referee Mike England called the fight with Munoz on his back.
Barry Tompkins called the action from ringside alongside Steve Farhood, Marquezand Joe Cortez. The executive producer of ShoBox is Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
The evening of fights will re-air Tuesday, Oct. 16 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME and will be available on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND beginning Saturday, Oct. 13.
On Saturday, Oct. 20, there will be four world championship fights on SHOWTIME CHAMPIONSHIP BOXING (8 p.m. ET/PT, delayed on the West Coast) from The Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.: Defending champion Danny Garcia (24-0, 15 KOs) vs. Erik Morales (52-8, 36 KOs) for the Unified Super Lightweight World Championship, Paulie Malignaggi (31-4, 7 KOs) vs. Pablo Cesar Cano (25-1-1, 19 KOs) for Malignaggi's WBA Welterweight title, Hassan N'Dam (27-0, 17 KOs) vs. Peter Quillin (27-0, 20 KOs) for N'Dam's WBO Middleweight belt and Devon Alexander (23-1, 13 KOs) vs. Randall Bailey (43-7, 37 KOs) for Bailey's IBF Welterweight crown. Live undercard fights will precede the telecast on SHOWTIME EXTREME (7 p.m. ET/PT).
For information on SHOWTIME Sports, including exclusive behind-the-scenes video and photo galleries, complete telecast information and more, visit the website athttp://sports.SHO.com.
OTHER RESULTS
Dannie Wiliams TKO7 Rynell Griffin
Tor Hamer TKO1 Dominque Alexander
Jose Ponce W4 Quintell Thompson
Nick Reeder D4 Keith Jackson
Zach Kelley TKO1 Chris Rapa