Mickey Bey stops former world champ Oscar Escandon
Boxing legend Danny Garcia’s Swift Promotions presented “The Future Is Now: Series II on Saturday night, as perennial fan favorite Mickey “Time Machine” Bey reasserted his presence as a top lightweight contender with an impressive and dominant third-round TKO over fellow former world champion Oscar Escandon at 2:03 of round three in the main event from the Newtown Sports & Events Center in Newtown, Pennsylvania, outside of Philadelphia.
The Bey-Escandon action streamed live on Millions.co or through the Millions App.
Mickey Bey vs Oscar Escandon
Mickey Bey (26-3-1, 14 KOs) a native of Cleveland, Ohio, who now trains in Philadelphia, looked sharp in battering former WBC Interim World Featherweight Champion Escandon (27-10, 18 KOs) throughout the abbreviated contest.
Bey appeared to shake the Colombian Escandon with a left hook and had him bleeding steadily after round one. Bey dropped Escandon with a sharp salvo of shots at the end of round two and again in round three, prompting the responsible stoppage from Referee Eric Dali.
“I just had a ball in there like a kid in the candy store,” said Bey, post-fight. “I didn’t want to rush it. I knew he was looking to land something big, so I put the work in, in the gym. I knew what I was doing with my brain, but I just let my body do what I trained for. I’m older now, that’s why I’m the ‘Time Machine.’ I probably have a handful of fights left. I’m here for a good time, not a long time. We have some big plans after this.”
Dariial Kuchmenov vs Diuhl “Elegante” Olguin
Hard-hitting 22-year-old Russian super featherweight prospect Dariial Kuchmenov (9-0, 7 KOs) showed off a formidable variety of offensive tools while stopping normally durable Mexican journeyman Diuhl “Elegante” Olguin (17-45-7, 10 KOs) at the end of the sixth round.
Now fighting out of Los Angeles via Nalchik, Russia, the 5’ 10” Kuchmenov towered over Olguin and proceeded to unload a furious arsenal of power punches and virtually ignore any return fire until his Mexican Californian opponent signaled he had suffered enough.
The official time was 3:00 of round six and all three judges had Kuchmenov winning by a shutout 60-54 at the time of the stoppage.
“King” David Garcia vs Marcelino Rangel
16-year-old bantamweight boxing prodigy “King” David Garcia continued his historic rise in the professional ranks with a quick demolition of MMA fighter Marcelino Rangel (1-2) in his Swift Promotions debut.
Phoenix, Arizona’s Garcia (4-0, 3 KOs), a four-time national champion as an amateur, had too many gifts for Rangel, who crumbled from the powerful onslaught from the teenage sensation at 2:53 of the opening frame.
“It’s a blessing. I wasn’t really looking for it but, it just came,” said Garcia of the knockout. “I felt like the time was right. He was moving around a lot, so I had to cut the ring off and land some power shots. I felt the time was right to trap him in the corner and demolish him.”
Thanjhae Teasley vs Nelson Morales
Rising welterweight prospect Thanjhae Teasley (13-0, 6 KOs) continued his ascension with a clear six-round unanimous decision over 30-fight veteran Nelson Morales.
26-year-old Teasley looked sharp against his former sparring partner Morales, banging him with wilting left hooks to the body and strong combinations to the head throughout the action. The iron-chinned Morales, stopped just two times against a long list of top competitors in his career, was able to survive the onslaught and offered moderate resistance.
At the end of the action, the scores were academic at 60-54 by all three judges.
Jonathan Rodriguez vs Jesus Martinez
Formerly world-ranked bantamweight Jonathan Rodriguez (18-3-1, 7 KOs) shook off the rust from 11 months of inactivity and got back in the win column with a unanimous eight-round decision over durable Colombian veteran Jesus Martinez (38-27-1, 16 KOs).
Rodriguez got in eight workmanlike rounds of work from the well-traveled Martinez, but the outcome was never in doubt. Upping the pace in the last round, Rodriguez was able to briefly hurt Martinez in a standout round eight for him.
The scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73.
Elijah Gonzalez vs Codi Chavez
Promising 18-year-old super lightweight prospect Elijah “Macho” Gonzalez (2-0, 2 KOs) scored an entertaining fourth-round knockout over Codi Chavez (0-2).
In against an offensively gifted and younger foe, the game, but outgunned, Chavez was already bleeding from the nose by the end of round one and was dropped twice in round four. The first knockdown came from a perfect Gonzalez left hook and the finishing blow was a flush right to the jaw, which prompted Referee Shawn Clark to wave it off at 1:31 of round four.
Rommel Dunbar Jr. vs Denzel Bowlding
To open the night’s action, former amateur standout Rommel “Ro” Dunbar Jr. (1-0) made a successful professional debut at super featherweight by taking a dominant four-round unanimous decision over Denzel Bowlding (0-6). A three-time state champion before turning pro, Dunbar stayed busy throughout, working especially well to Bowlding’s body against the ropes.
All three judges had it 40-36.
