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Steve KimESPN
In progress: Tyler McCreary vs. Jessie Cris Rosales, 8 rounds, junior lightweights
Middleweight Esquiva Falcao remained undefeated by scoring an eighth-round TKO of durable Jesus Gutierrez. Falcao (24-0, 16 KOs), a 2012 Olympic silver medalist or Brazil, fought at his usual steady, methodical pace and slowly wore down Gutierrez.
Gutierrez (25-4-2, 12 KOs) was floored in the Round 8 and a series of follow up punches had referee David Braslow waving off the fight.
There’s nothing spectacular about what Falcao does from his southpaw stance, but he is a consistent fighter, who has sound fundamentals. He’s now at the stage of his career where he feels he’s ready for bigger and better things.
“He was a very tough fighter. I was prepared because of that,” Falcao said of his opponent. “I saw that I hurt him, and I went for the knockout. I told myself that if I want to be a world champion, I needed to knock out this guy. Bob Arum, I’m ready for my title shot! I’ll go anywhere. Japan, Brazil, it doesn’t matter.”
Still to come:
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Teofimo Lopez Jr. vs. Masayoshi Nakatani, 12 rounds, IBF lightweight eliminator
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Maxim Dadashev vs. Subriel Matias, 12 rounds, IBF junior welterweight eliminator
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Esquiva Falcao vs. Jesus Gutierrez, 10 rounds, middleweights
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Tyler Howard vs. Jamaal Davis, 8 rounds, middleweights
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Dusty Hernandez Harrison vs. Juan De Angel, 8 rounds, junior middleweights
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Cassius Chaney vs. Joel Caudle, 6 or 8 rounds, heavyweights
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Patrick Harris vs. Donald Ward, 6 or 8 rounds, junior welterweights
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Nathaniel Davis vs. Rolando Vargas, 4 rounds, lightweights