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Nathaniel Gallimore delivered his best performance in several years, one which was properly rewarded by two of the three judges in his latest contest.
The veteran junior middleweight pulled off a well-earned upset decision win over previously unbeaten Leon Lawson. Judges John Mariano had the contest 95-95, overruled by judges Patrick Morley (96-94) and Mike Fitzgerald (97-93) who scored the contest in for Gallimore atop a PBC on FS1 telecast preceding the main show on Fox prime from The Armory in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Lawson—a Flint, Michigan native who is a cousin of Anthony and Andre Dirrell—opened the bout strong, outworking Gallimore, who often spends pockets of every fight posing in places where he should be throwing punches.
Gallimore picked up the pace in round four, as the Chicago-based Jamaican product repeatedly scored with power shots. A far more punishing round five saw Gallimore connect with a right hand to briefly stagger Lawson.
The second half of the fight featured several rounds there for the taking, with Lawson attempting to be the busier fighter but Gallmore landing the cleaner blows. Gallimore ran a 30-second drill at the end of the fight, twice catching Lawson (14-1, 7KOs) with right hands to seal the deal on two of the three scorecards.
Gallimore improves to 22-5-1 (17KOs), picking up his first win in nearly two years. The 33-year-old trialhorse suffered back-to-back losses to current Top 10 contenders Erickson Lubin and Sebastian Fundora, the latter serving as the lone stoppage loss of his seven-year career as he was stopped inside in six rounds by the 6’6” Fundora last August.
Atif Oberlton picked up his second knockout win in four weeks and third in as many pro fights. The 22-year-old light heavyweight southpaw earned his latest feat in a fifth-round stoppage of Jasper McCargo (4-2-2, 2KOs).
Oberlton was extended barely into the third round in each of his first two pro fights, though not as sharp here as it took at least that long for him to find his rhythm. McCargo fought to survive, though that plan began to falter in round four when he was floored just before the bell. Oberlton closed the show moments later, as McCargo was forced to the canvas courtesy of a body shot that prompted referee Gary Miezwa to call a halt to the contest at 0:24 of round five.
Opening the telecast, rookie junior middleweight Travon Marshall picked up his second career win in a four-round unanimous decision over Ruben Torres (4-2, 1KO). All three judges scored the contest 40-35 in favor of Marshall (2-0, 1KO), who won his pro debut by first-round knockout just two months ago but was extended the full four-round distance. It came in dominant fashion, as the 20-year-old from Capitol Heights, Maryland floored Torres late in round three for the bout’s lone knockdown.
Off television, Alantez Fox (28-2-1, 13KOs) picked up his second consecutive win following a seventh-round stoppage of Tampa’s Manny Woods (17-12-1, 6KOs). Fox—a 6’4” super middleweight from Upper Marlboro, Maryland—closed the show with a right hand that rocked Woods to the point where referee Gary Miezwa no longer felt it was safe for him to continue, stopping the bout at 1:11 of round seven.
All of the aforementioned bouts served in supporting capacity to locally-based interim WBA super middleweight titlist David Morrell (4-0, 3KOs), who faces Mexico’s Mario Cazares (12-0, 5KOs) in the Fox-televised main event.
Jake Donovan is a senior writer for BoxingScene.com. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox