Easter Jr. Retains IBF Lightweight Title with Unanimous Nod Over Shafikov

AND STILL!!

135-lb World Champ @RobertEaster_Jr defends his belt in his hometown with a UD win over Denis Shafikov tonight on #PBConBounce. pic.twitter.com/ydIVF2zfum

— PBC (@premierboxing) July 1, 2017

Robert Easter Jr. retained his IBF lightweight title by dominating challenger Denis Shafikov over 12 rounds in the main event of the latest PBC on Bounce TV card. Easter controlled the action throughout and won a unanimous decision in front of his hometown fans at the Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, Friday night.

Easter (20-0, 14 KOs) utilized a stiff jab, excellent movement and timely punching to the body to keep Shafikov at bay throughout. However, Shafikov (38-3-1, 20 KOs) came on strongly in the latter stages of the contest and closed strong, though two of the three ringside judges failed to give him any of the rounds. In the end, Easter retained his title based on official scores of 120-108 (twice) and 116-112.

In the co-feature, middleweight Julian Williams rebounded from his pro loss by pummeling Joshua Conley for several rounds before finally taking him out. Williams (23-1-1, 15 KOs) controlled the action from the start as he systematically broke his foe down. After dropping Conley (14-2-1, 9 KOs) to a knee in the seventh, the overmatched fighter’s corner had seen enough and threw in the towel. The end official came 58 seconds into the seventh.

Jamontay Clark (12-0, 7 KOs) was lucky to escape the venue with his unbeaten pro ledger intact as he won a highly controversial unanimous decision over Ivan Golub, who was the far more aggressive super welterweight. Golub (13-1, 11 KOs) threw more punches and landed the more telling blows throughout the contest but all three judges favored Clark, who via tallies of 77-75 (twice) and a puzzling 79-73.