RISING CONTENDER SHARIF BOGERE KNOCKS OUT FRANCISCO CONTRERAS IN WILD SHOBOX MAIN EVENT

Posted on | October 8, 2011 | No Comments

Jermell Charlo Decisions Francisco Santana in Co-Feature

From Texas Station Gambling Hall & Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada

Friday’s Edition of ShoBox: The New Generation Will Replay On SHO EXTREME

Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 10 p.m. ET/PT; Available On Demand from Monday, Oct. 10

LAS VEGAS (Oct. 8, 2011)—In a battle of unbeaten lightweights on Friday’s ShoBox: The New Generation, the charismatic Sharif “The Lion” Bogere knocked out Francisco Contreras in the third round to remain undefeated and continue his rise up the rankings toward a world title fight.

In the co-feature on SHOWTIME from Las Vegas, undefeated junior middleweight Jermell Charlo of Houston won a comfortable unanimous decision against Francisco Santana of Santa Barbara, Calif., by scores of 79-73 twice and 78-74 in an eight-round bout.

As is usually the case in fights involving the high-energy Bogere, a wild fight ended with the Ugandan landing two big right hand shots to the head of his Dominican opponent. The first punch landed early in the third round forcing Contreras to stumble toward the corner. The second grazed off Contreras’ back shoulder and the back of his head as he was turning away from the on-coming assault. Contreras went down flat on his face and was counted out by referee Jay Nady at 2:01.

The final blow was ruled a legal punch by the Nevada State Athletic Commission as Contreras voluntarily turned away from the punch.

A responsive Contreras was taken from the ring on a stretcher and transported immediately to the hospital for further examination.

The 23-year-old Bogere notched his third victory of 2011, improved his record to 21-0 with 13 knockouts, and successfully defended his NABO lightweight title for the first time.

In the co-feature, Santana was the aggressor early in the fight, applying pressure and backing up Charlo. But Charlo proved himself the superior boxer behind a solid jab, good hand speed and defense which frustrated and slowed his opponent. Charlo simply out punched Santana through eight rounds to capture the unanimous decision.

Charlo, 21, improved his record to 16-0 with 7 knockouts while Santana drops to 12-3-1 with 6 KOs.

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ShoBox Returns Friday, Oct. 21, live at 11p ET/PT on SHOWTIME

ShoBox will return on Friday, Oct. 21 from the MGM Theatre at Foxwoods Resort Casino with another match-up of unbeaten prospects. Knockout-prone Edwin Rodriguez (19-0, 14 KOs) will face Will Rosinsky (14-0, 8 KOs) in a 10-round super middleweight fight and Gabriel Bracero (17-0, 3 KOs) will take on Daniel Sostre (11-4, 4 KOs) in a 10-round junior welterweight bout.