Jalil Hackett Stops Gutierrez In The Third And Wins WBC Youth Title

Article by Vince DWriter 

December 2, 2023

Mayweather Promotions 20-year-old welterweight prospect Jalil Major Hackett collected a title belt as he stopped Adrian Gutierrez (12-2-1, 6 KOs) in the third round, and won the WBC Youth Title on Friday night at the Red Owl Boxing Arena in Houston, Texas.

The bout served as the co-feature for Boxfest 6 which is an event that is designed to showcase the skills of promising young fighters. The vacant belt that was up for grabs, the WBC Youth Title, is a minor title for up and coming professional boxers.

Prior to the bout, the Washington D.C. native Jalil Hackett spoke on his goal of being a multi -division world champion and how he believes winning the WBC Youth Title would be a step in the right direction. Hackett also talked about his philosophy of ending fights early because boxing doesn’t pay overtime. 

In the opening round of the contest, Jalil Hackett worked the jab long enough to get inside, and once he got inside he landed multiple left hooks to the head and body of his opponent. As the first round was about to end, Hackett landed a big left hook that had Gutierrez on wobbly legs as he stumbled back to his corner.

Hackett went to work in the second round as he stood in the pocket and unleashed an aggressive head and body attack. He closed out the round by landing a sharp uppercut followed by a big right hand shot. 

The third round started off with both boxers standing in close range and trading punches. With 1:14 left to go in the third, Jalil Hackett landed a big left hand shot that sent Gutierrez down to the canvas. Gutierrez was able to get up but Hackett proceeded to hit Gutierrez with a flurry of shots that forced the referee to step in and put a halt to the contest. 

With the stoppage victory Jalil Hackett (8-0, 7 KOs) produced another early night at the office and he’s currently on a five fight stoppage streak. After the fight, Jalil Hackett was happy to get the win, but he was critical of his boxing performance.

 “It was a good performance, we got him out of there of course, a whole lot to work on, a lot of mistakes I made, but that’s what we got the gym for,” Hackett said. We’re going to go back and work on those mistakes in the gym, but for tonight we’re going to celebrate the good win against a tough opponent and back to the drawing board on Monday.”

Aaron Thorne III Brings Home Title From Columbia.

Undefeated Lanham, Maryland super middleweight Aaron Thorne III traveled to foreign land to battle Carlos Saenz in Sogamosa, Colombia for the Universal Boxing Organization (UBO) title on Friday, November 17. 

According to the UBO article on their website, Thorne, now (10-0, 9 KO's) was in a war with Carlos Saenz, 22-12 (16). The Lanham, Maryland native had to survive a serious scare before being crowned the new champion. 

After two rounds of back and forth action, and both boxers firing on all cylinders, the third round was even more eventful and ended up being decisive. 

Saenz slipped and hurt his knee, and had to be checked by the ringside doctor mid round. But he also dropped Thorne with a barrage of punches, and the favourite had to muster all his strength to beat the count of referee Dabiel Segura. 

Thorne fought back as best he could, and Saenz was not able to finish him, and neither man looked to be in a good state as the bell rang to end round three. 

The corner of Saenz decided to pull the plug on their man before the start of round four, due to the knee injury, making Thorne the winner by fourth round technical knockout. 

Thorne showed a big heart and big determination, but will also realize that he caught a break after being in trouble

Here's what Thorne had to say after the fight:

“I am not happy with my performance, but we pulled it out against a cagey veteran”, said Thorne after the fight. 

“Its back to the lab to prepare for the next one, and now I have a target on my back. But we are in this business for a reason, and I want to thank TAC Management as this would not have been possible without you". 

Lamont Roach Jr. Captures WBA World Title

Another World Champion Returns Home To Maryland!

Photos from Amanda Westcott/SHOWTIME

Upper Marlboro, Maryland's Lamont Roach Jr. won his first world title by out pointing the now former champion Hector Luis García to capture the WBA junior lightweight belt by split decision.

In his second attempt at a world title belt, Lamont Roach Jr. fought at his own pace in every round including dropping García in the 12th round and winning a split decision by the scores of 116-111, 114-113 and 113-114. The knockdown in the 12th made the difference as Roach avoided a probable rematch if the fight was scored a draw.  Roach landed a left-hook on the top of García’s head with 1:20 left in the round and García fell to the canvas for the second time of his career.

“Man, I’ve been waiting to hear ‘And the new’ for a long time,” said Roach, who improved to (24-1-1, 9 KO's). “It’s about time though. All I needed was the spotlight. The first time I was a baby – I was 24 years old. Now I’m seasoned. I don’t think anyone can beat me. Nobody.”

 

On the knockdown that decided the outcome: "We've been working on this shot for a long time, that hook,” Roach went on. “I'm the best and I want to show I'm the best. Anybody who wants to fight let me know because I want to fight all of you. There's a lot of cool champions at 130. I'll take whoever."

Roach came up short in his first title shot against the saouthpaw Jamel Herring in 2019, but made up for it on his second attempt against García (16-2, 10 KO's). García went up a weight class unsuccessfully when he challenged lightweight titleholder Gervonta Davis of Baltimore, Maryland earlier this year in January. García didn’t answer the bell in the ninth round, complaining of impaired vision.