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Usyk, Diaz Jr. both pick up wins on Hopkins-Smith undercard

By Thomas Cathey

INGLEWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 17: Oleksandr Usyk of the Ukraine walks to a corner after a knock down of Thabiso Mchunu of South Africa to win the WBO Cruiserweight title at The Forum on December 17, 2016 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
INGLEWOOD, CA - DECEMBER 17: Oleksandr Usyk of the Ukraine walks to a corner after a knock down of Thabiso Mchunu of South Africa to win the WBO Cruiserweight title at The Forum on December 17, 2016 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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2012 olympians Oleksandr Usyk and Joseph Diaz Jr. score dominant victories on the undercard of Bernard Hopkins vs. Joe Smith Jr.

Although not all of the fighters who were favored to win on Saturday’s HBO World Championship Boxing telecast came away with wins (Bernard Hopkins was knocked out by Joe Smith in the headliner), Oleksandr Usyk and Joseph Diaz Jr. did exactly what they were expected to do at the Forum in Los Angeles.

In the first fight of the broadcast, Ukrainian olympic gold medalist Oleksadr Usyk (11-0, 10 KO) defended his WBO cruiserweight belt against a well-skilled contender in Thabiso Mchunu (17-3, 11 KO). Usyk won his share of the cruiserweight crown by upsetting Krzystof Glowacki via unanimous decision in September. Making his American television debut, Usyk had a chance to show the American audience what he was all about. Well, he delivered.

The first few rounds saw a very tentative start for Usyk, and Mchunu seemed to be getting the better of it. However, as the fight progressed, Usyk turned up the punch count, and finally began to find the target. In the 6th round, Usyk floored Mchunu with a left uppercut. And then finally, in the 9th round, Mchunu was knocked down again. While getting up, Mchunu was visibly discouraged, turning his back to the referee and waking to a neutral corner. The gesture by Mchunu showed that he was basically at the end of his rope. After Usyk knocked down Mchunu again, the referee stopped the fight at 1 minute, 53 seconds of the round.

Despite the slow start, the 29-year-old Usyk put on a great performance, and more is to be desired from him in the future. As far as for Usyk’s next step, Tom Loeffler, Usyk’s promoter, has expressed interest in placing him on the Golovkin-Jacobs pay-per-view card in March.

In the second fight of the telecast, 126-pound prospect Joseph Diaz Jr. took on Mexico’s Horacio Garcia . A native of South El Monte, Diaz aimed for a great homecoming performance. And he did just that.

Diaz dominated from the opening bell, and HBO commentator Roy Jones Jr. referred to it as “target practice”. After ten rounds of hitting Garcia virtually at will, Diaz was awarded with a unanimous decision victory, with all judges scoring the bout 100-90.

Both Usyk and Diaz may be early in their career, but they have shown that they definitely belong on the big stage. These two fighters have very bright futures in boxing, and don’t be surprised if one of them, if not both, cracks the top ten pound-for-pound.

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