It was a great night for boxing fans as boxing returned to the Turning Stone Resort Casino Friday night and for the 2nd time was featured on ESPN Friday Night Fights. Here is a recap of the fights:

The first fight featured undefeated Jackson Junior Dos Santos (13-0, 11 KO’s) who in an impressive display knocked down Dante Craig (20-14-1, 15 KO’s) twice in the first round, the second time for a KO improving his record to (14-0, 12 KO’s).

The second fight of the evening featured Jamell Tyson (3-8-1, 1 KO) out of Rochester, NY against Jose Saenz (3-0, 3 KO’s). Both fighters traded power punches in an exciting first round. Saenz knocked down Tyson in the third round after a no-call low blow landed by Saenz. Saenz was able to carry that knockdown to a split decision to remain undefeated at (4-0, 3 KO’s).

Ryon “Big Youth” McKenzie (11-0, 10 KO’s) out of Syracuse took on Rayshawn Myers (4-15-1, 3 KO’s) in the third fight of the evening. McKenzie was too much for Myers as he overpowered him from the start, knocking him down twice in the 2nd round, with the fight being stopped in between rounds. McKenzie improved his undefeated record to (12-0, 11 KO’s).

ESPN Friday Night Fights kicked off at 9pm with the first fight featuring Jose Hernandez (13-6-1, 5 KO’s) taking on Tony “The Lightning” Luis (15-0, 7 KO’s). This was an non-stop, action-packed 8 rounds of boxing and one of the most exciting fights you could of witnessed. In a stunning upset Jose Hernandez knocked down Tony Luis in the 8th round and eventually Luis’s corner threw in the towel giving Hernandez an 8th round TKO improving his record to (14-6-1, 6 KO’s).

Emmanuel Medina with a record of (2-2-1, 2 KO’s) took on Antoine Douglas (3-0, 2 KO’s) in the second televised fight of the night. Douglas’s longer reach and superior power was too much for Medina as Douglas won unanimously improving to (4-0, 3 KO’s).

In the Main Event of the night, NABO Middleweight Champion Brian Vera (21-6, 12 KO’s) defended his title against Sergiy “Razor” Dzinziruk (36-1-1, 24 KO’s). This ended up being one of the best fights the Casino has ever seen but didn’t start out that way. Vera wasted no time going after Dzinziruk knocking him down in twice in the 1st round and leaving Dzinziruk completely stunned at the end of the round. Vera continuously landed heavy blows in the rounds to follow but was unable to finish off the resilient Dzinziruk.

The 8th round proved to be the turning point for Dzinziruk as he withstood a barrage of punches form Vera which left him bruised and bloodied. However, he managed to turn it around cutting Vera and doing significant damage, ultimately knocking Vera down in the next round. Vera then came back knocking down Dzinziruk in the 10th round which was the final blow for Dzinziruk as he decided that was all he could take, giving Vera the TKO win. Vera retained his NABO Middleweight title improving to (22-6, 13 KO’s).

Once again it was a great night for boxing fans at the Turning Stone Casino. The Casino has made a great effort in bringing Championship boxing back to the area and will continue to do so as ESPN’s Friday Night Fights will return once again in the upcoming months.

 -Ray Rich

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