Mario “Golden Boy” Barrios Raises His Record to 20-0 with Win Over Niam Nelson
By Joshua “City” Brewer
Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) was back in the mix last night for another edition of their ‘Toe to Toe Tuesdays’ on Fox Sport 1 and the night did not disappoint. The fights went down in the popular boxing hotbed of Bethlehem, PA. The main event featured rising super lightweight Mario “Golden Boy” Barrios, 20-0, 12 KO’s as he took on a charged up Niam Nelson, 13-4, 1 KO.
Barrios looked sharp early as he chose to patiently box and landed a few heavy shots on Nelson. Nelson was able to catch Barrios with couple good shots near the end of round two, a round in which he saw success. Barrios caught Nelson with a right hand that dropped him but was ruled a slip by the referee in round three as he started to sit down on his punches. Later in the round, Nelson threw a left hook that seemed to dislocate his shoulder as he winced in pain. After being checked by the doctor he was allowed to continue.
At the beginning of the fourth Nelson took a knee from another shoulder injury. He again was seen by the ringside doctor and was allowed to continue to fight once again. Barrios continued to box, patiently in control of the fight. Barrios caught Nelson with a hard straight right counter that rocked him midway through the fifth. Nelson was able to bounce back in the sixth as the round was competitive for the two fighters. In the seventh Nelson again threw a left hook that dislocated his shoulder. The doctor advised the referee to stop the fight giving Barrios the official technical knockout victory. Both fighters deserve immense credit, especially Nelson, as he never quit and wanted to continue to fight even with a dislocated shoulder.
The co-featured bout pitted Thomas Velasquez, 9-0-1, 5 KO’s Vs Tyrome Jones, 4-2-1, 1 KO.
In the first round Velasquez stayed on the outside as he moved and landed on the constantly forward marching Jones. Much of the same took place during the second round. In the third, Velasquez started to apply more pressure as the aggressor as he looked to maintain control in the fight. Jones bounced back nicely in the fourth having his best round of the fight. Both fighters saw success with exchanges in the round with Jones getting the better of Velasquez towards the end of the round. Both fighters went all out in the sixth and final round as they each landed many clean, hard shots up until the bell. In the end the fight was officially declared a draw. Both fighters seemed content with the ruling and will look to improve on the verdict in their next fights.
The telecast kicked off with light heavyweight action featuring Earl “Flash” Newman, 10-0-1, 7 KO’s Vs Paul Parker 8-2-1, 4 KO’s, in what was certainly the most exciting fight of the night. Newman stayed behind a steady jab and scored on clean power shots in round one. Parker kept coming forward and landed a hard left hook–overhand right combination in the second. Newman caught Parker with a left hook early in the third and Parker’s glove seemed to touch the canvas. As the round moved forward both fighters had their moment in exchanges. Newman’s right hand repeatedly found the mark as Parker started to tire in the fourth round. Newman seemed to hurt Parker with a combination at the end of the fifth. Both fighters continued the back and forth each looking himself for the remainder of the fight with sustained action. The fight went down as a draw officially, the second of the night. The two fighters received a standing ovation from the crowd for their spirited efforts and hopefully the two fighters get a more definite answer on where they are in the rematch.
PBC once again delivered with evenly matched fighters that each came to get the victory. Boxing in general has been on the upswing and there will be more PBC action in the coming week as Leduan Barthelemy, 13-0, 7 KO’s will headline in a fight against Eduardo Ramirez, 20-0-2, 7 KO’s, in what should be a good battle between two undefeated fighters. Stay tuned fight fans and be sure to visit Ringside Report for all the latest on PBC action.
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