Cortes outpoints Garcia in Las Vegas main event as Magsayo delivers stoppage and contenders emerge at lightweight
Andres Cortes outpointed Eridson Garcia over ten rounds in the Zuffa Boxing 05 main event in Las Vegas. Mark Magsayo also made a statement on the card, stopping Feargal McCrory to strengthen his position at lightweight.
Cortes dictated the main event with a disciplined approach, working behind his jab, stepping in with combinations, and getting back out of range before return fire.Garcia struggled to keep up and was warned repeatedly for holding before a point was deducted in the fourth round. As the fight progressed, Cortes began closing the distance, working the body and letting his hands go on the inside. Scores of 97-92, 96-93, and 95-94 reflected a fight where Cortes landed the cleaner work and dictated the pace across most rounds, improving to 25-0.
In the co-main event, Mark Magsayo stopped Feargal McCrory in the fifth round to mark a strong start at lightweight. Magsayo set the tone early with right hands and continued to land clean through the middle rounds, breaking McCrory down with combinations. After sustained punishment, McCrory’s corner stepped in 21 seconds into the fifth round to end the fight. The finish positions Magsayo as a contender at 135 pounds following his move up in weight.
Azat Hovhannisyan secured a majority decision over Eduardo Baez after working through an apparent arm issue. Baez took the early rounds with clean punching, but Hovhannisyan adjusted, pressed forward, and leaned on his right hand to take control down the stretch. Scores of 95-95, 96-94, and 97-93 reflected a competitive fight that turned in the later rounds.
Alexis De La Cerda produced a clean finish in the third round, stopping Ervin Fuller III with a right hook. After a competitive start, De La Cerda closed the distance, found the opening, and dropped Fuller with a single shot that ended the fight.
Tony Hirsch Jr handed Robert Meriwether III his first defeat, winning a majority decision over eight rounds. Hirsch worked behind his jab, mixed in body shots, and controlled the exchanges in the closing rounds to separate himself on the scorecards (76-76, 76-75, 78-74).
Jorge Maravillo stopped Elias Diaz in the fifth round after turning the fight around with a right hand that hurt Diaz and forced the finish. Troy Nash opened the card with a majority decision over Bryan Rodriguez, controlling the distance and landing the cleaner counters over eight rounds (76-76, 79-73, 80-72).
The night centered on Cortes and Magsayo, with both delivering wins that move them forward in the lightweight picture as the next fights begin to take shape.