Ardreal Holmes Jr. W8 Wendy Toussaint ... The co-feature on the Claressa Shields undercard in Detroit featured an entertaining ten-round scrap between Ardreal Holmes Jr. (14-0, 5 KOs) of Flint and Wendy Toussaint (14-2, 6 KOs) of Huntington, New York. Unfortunately, the bout was cut short when an ugly cut on the forehead of Toussaint from an accidental headbutt forced an eight-round technical decision. The intriguing duel came to an end at 1:54 in round eight when the southpaw Holmes and orthodox Toussaint conked heads, sending blood cascading down Toussaint’s face. Referee Gerard White initially allowed the carnage to continue, but a few seconds later, the need for a stoppage was clear. A chorus of boos greeted the judge’s decision of 77-74 and 76-75 for Holmes against one card of 77-74 favoring Toussaint.
Toussaint came out blazing for the junior middleweight contest and seldom took his foot off the accelerator. The fast pace seemed to trouble the patient Holmes, who rarely matched the Haitian New Yorker’s work rate. Toussaint’s faster hands and combination punching seemed to lock up Holmes’ output in most rounds.
Toussaint appeared to hurt Holmes with a left to the body in round five. Another extended volley in round seven seemed to have Holmes in some danger as well. Toussaint was, however, deducted one point in round four for hitting behind the head, a point that ended up costing him dearly. “I didn’t lose that fight,” said a disappointed Toussaint. “It was my plan to come out fast and outwork him and it worked. I had him hurt. I don’t agree with the point deduction, and the judges got it wrong.”
Holmes said afterwards, “I was expecting a tough fight. Just wasn’t in the shape we wanted to be in, but no excuses. I got the job done. I felt like I didn’t catch my second wind until the seventh or eighth round. That’s when I felt like the fight was really changing. I felt like I took the earlier rounds and he started coming on late.”
Holmes said the fast pace Toussaint kept throughout the fight was unexpected. “He actually surprised me,” admitted Holmes. “Watching film, he usually slows in the fourth or fifth round. That’s what I thought he was going to do, but he shocked me. My plan was to come on halfway through the fight and I thought I was going to close it out at the end. I thought the decision was fair. It was four-four (in rounds), but the point (deduction) did it. He was out of gas the last quarter of the fight.”
To his credit, Toussaint claimed he was able to continue despite the crimson cascade running down his face. “It felt like a normal headbutt. I’m a fighter. I was able to fight. I was good to fight. I don’t know (what’s next). I am going to be training hard. I’ll be back for a rematch, at least.”
ADDITIONAL RESULTS
In the DAZN-televised opener, former national amateur champion Joseph “Sug” Hicks (7-0, 5 KOs) of Grand Rapids, fought his way to a careful eight-round unanimous decision over journeyman slickster Antonio Todd (14-8, 8 KOs) of Atlanta, Georgia. The action heated up briefly in round five, with Hicks battering the durable Georgian with a high-energy two-fisted volley that seemed to have Todd mildly hurt. The pair, however, settled back into their cautious rhythm after that, exchanging jabs and the occasional one-two with Hicks landing more often than Todd, but no real damage being done either way. The scores were 80-72 from all three judges.
“I didn’t expect Todd to be that awkward,” said Hicks afterwards. “I knew he was tough, but he was awkward. He did a lot of unorthodox things. He dropped his head after he jabbed. He switched back after his jab, and he got the counterpunch. I was trying to time him, but he was flinching back.”
Hicks admitted he was disappointed settling for a decision win but appreciative to get the rounds in against a game opponent. “I knew it was going to be a shutout, but I wanted to get the knockout,” he said. “It was better to get the rounds (of experience), because there were a couple times where I hurt him. I was smothering myself, but I was wasting energy because I was smothering myself.”
Still, Hicks said the experience of fighting at Little Caesars Arena and being part of boxing history was worth the effort. “It means everything to be a part of this fight card and this event,” Hicks continued. “I'm very grateful to Claressa and Salita Promotions. The GWOAT, Claressa, she's going to win tonight. I'm very grateful to her, because without her, this opportunity is not here for me. I'm ready for whoever they give me next. I’m going back to the drawing board. We're going to fix a lot of things, get sharper and be better in my next fight.”
Todd had few qualms with the decision and sent his respect to Hicks. “He was the better man tonight. Hicks is a good fighter. We knew that coming in. We knew he was a good fighter; captain of the USA Boxing Team. We knew he was a good fighter the whole time. Sometimes you come up short. I wasn’t hurt like I was about to go down, but he hit me in the back of the head a couple of times, headbutted a couple times, but nothing major. I’m okay.”
Topping the undercard, Detroit junior middleweight Marlon “The Savage” Harrington (9-1, 8 KOs) rebounded from the first loss of his career in style by knocking out Dearborn, Michigan’s Gheith Mohammed (9-1, 3 KOs) in just 46 seconds of the first frame. After plenty of jawing between the two at the weigh-in, Harrington came out blazing and caught Mohammed with a right hand for a flash knockdown in the opening seconds. Unhurt, Mohammed tried to recover quickly and get his fight plan rolling, but ran into another three-punch series of shots along the ropes from the powerful Harrington that left him out on his feet, albeit momentarily. Still awake, Mohammed complained about the stoppage immediately, but referee Ansel Stewart decided he’d seen enough.
Grand Rapids, Michigan junior welterweight Joshua James Pagan (7-0, 3 KOs) turned in a career-best performance thus far in his young career by dismantling the formerly undefeated Ronnell Burnett (9-1, 5 KOs) of Kansas City, Missouri via third-round TKO. The pair traded often with Pagan being the more accurate and harder puncher. He began to ring the brave Burnett’s bell with repeated pot shots as the action progressed, especially in round three. Pagan couldn’t miss the tiring Burnett and chased him around the ring with hammering rights and lefts. Burnett’s corner mercifully indicated they’d seen enough to referee Pat Schmidt at 2:59.
Detroit cruiserweight Vernon Webber (9-0, 6 KOs) made quick work of Curitiba, Brazil’s Fernando Almeida (10-9, 10 KOs), scoring a second-round TKO after two knockdowns. Webber started slowly in round one, getting the measure of the Brazilian before opening up in devastating fashion in the second salvo. After a body-shot knockdown earlier in the round, Weber unleashed a two-fisted volley culminating with a strong right hand that left Almeida slumped in the corner at 2:49.
In a spirited six-round featherweight battle to open the action, Sarah Liegmann (8-0, 2 KOs) of Reinbek, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, took a hard-fought unanimous decision over Lakeland, Florida’s determined Carisse Brown (7-5, 4 KOs). The two women exchanged freely throughout with Liegmann being slightly more accurate. Both had their moments, but in the end, the scores were 58-56 (twice) and 59-55 for Liegmann.
Da’velle Smith (6-0, 5 KOs) of Dearborn, Mich. defeated K.J. Woods (4-1, 3 KOs) of California by first-round knockout.
