Rising undefeated super lightweight prospect Mykquan Williams earned a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Yeis Solano in the main event of Wednesday night’s edition of ShoBox: The New Generation from Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., in an event presented by Sampson Boxing and Paco Presents Boxing.
The event marked the beginning of ShoBox’s 20th anniversary year as the premier boxing series aimed at developing prospects into contenders and world champions.
In the inaugural SHOWTIME BOXING event of the year, Williams (16-0-1, 7 KO) extended his undefeated record by toppling the first unbeaten foe of his career in Solano (15-1, 10 KOs) who was often the aggressor throughout the 10-round affair. In his home state of Connecticut, Williams neutralized Solano’s onslaught with superior speed and head movement throughout the fight, and outlanded the Colombian by 53 total punches. Two ringside judges saw the fight 96-93 with the third judge seeing it 97-92 in favor of the 22-year-old prospect.
Solano, who returned to ShoBox following an impressive win in June 2019, was effective when fighting Williams on the inside with 50 of his 147 total punches landed connecting to the body. It was in the eighth round that Williams sealed his victory with a right hand that sent Solano to the canvas for the first time in his six-year professional career.
“The judges definitely got it right,” said Williams. “I thought I landed the bigger, sharper shots for sure. I let him do a little too much though. He was shooting that straight left a lot, but I was catching most of them. He didn’t land too much.
“I would give myself a seven or eight out of ten. I could have done a lot more. The first couple rounds were good but in the middle of the fight, I kind of let him back in. But I adjusted and picked it back up and got my second wind in the latter rounds.”
Williams acknowledged the significance of winning his debut fight on ShoBox: The New Generation, what it means for his career and the experience of fighting without fans for the first time in his career.
“It was definitely important not to just get the win but to look good doing it,” said Williams. “I’ve been off for 15 months and this is a big platform to fight on. It’s my first televised fight so I thought it was important to look good and showcase my skills.
“It was a little weird fighting in front of no fans. I could hear a little bit of what the announcers were saying which was different. But I think it allowed me to focus a little more, to be honest. Not hearing the crowd and playing to the crowd helped me in the end.”
In the co-main event, Panama’s Jose Nunez (11-0-2, 4 KOs) and Armenia’s Aram Avagyan (10-0-2, 4 KOs) kept their undefeated records intact following a Majority Draw in their exciting eight-round super featherweight fight. Two of the three judges ringside scored the fight 76-76, while a third judge saw it in favor of Nunez at 77-75. SHOWTIME’s unofficial ringside scorer Steve Farhood also saw it 77-75 in favor of the Panamanian southpaw.
Avagyan applied pressure throughout the fight with his come-forward style, but Nunez controlled the tempo with a heavy dose of work to the body where he landed 53 punches over the course of eight frames compared to just 19 body shots landed from Avagyan. Both fighters relied heavily on power punches with Nunez landing 112 and Avagyan landing 118, while the two fighters combined for just 28 landed jabs. It marked the second draw of each fighter’s career.
“There was no justice tonight,” said Nunez. “It’s not fair. I won the first four rounds and closed out the last one as well. I executed the game plan really well. I knew he was a tough opponent, so I needed to slow him down by attacking the body and that’s exactly what I did.
“I’m not interested in a rematch if it’s going to be another draw. It was a tough fight, but I already proved that I’m the better fighter. He was not the toughest opponent I’ve faced because the truth is that I feel like I won. At the very least, I very clearly won five rounds.”
“I definitely did enough to get the win,” said Avagyan. “It doesn’t make sense to me. He never hurt me. I got hit with some body shots, but I blocked everything. Every big shot he threw he missed. I thought I fought a good fight and deserved the win. I’m not interested in a rematch if it’s going to be judged like that. If it’s going to be fair, then yes, I would fight him again.”
Wednesday’s ShoBox: The New Generation telecast will replay on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME.
International Boxing Hall of Famer Barry Tompkins called the action from ringside with fellow Hall of Famer and boxing historian Steve Farhood and former world champion Raul Marquez serving as expert analysts. The executive producer was Gordon Hall with Richard Gaughan producing and Rick Phillips directing.
The event was promoted by Sampson Boxing and Paco Presents Boxing, in association with DiBella Entertainment, Kings Promotions and Salita Promotions.
