Evan Holyfield now 7-0, stops Agustin Cicero

Friday, Evan Holyfield fought in his first scheduled six-round bout, but he didn’t need half that many rounds to pick up his seventh victory.

Holyfield, the son of former world cruiserweight and heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield, dropped Augistin Cicero of Fishers, Indiana five times before referee Jackie Morell stopped the bout 11 seconds into the third round in the junior middleweight main event at the Castleton Banquet and Conference Center.

In the second round, Holyfield (7-0, 5 knockouts) put Cicero on the mat four times. Three of the four were on left hooks to the body, including the last one, which happened just before the round ended.

When the action resumed in the third, Holyfield went across the ring, pinned Cicero on the ropes and put him down with a quick 1-2, forcing Morrell to stop the fight.

“We saw some film on him,” the 23-year-old Holyfield said. “We saw that I could drop him with body shots and I used my jab to get inside.”

The punches that Holyfield landed were more quick, well-placed punches.

“It was really more about the form and the placement,” Holyfield said.

For the last eight months, Holyfield has trained in Cincinnati with Mike Stafford.

“He’s very athletic and has some good power,” Stafford said. “He’s listening and we saw what we wanted to see. The guy tasted his power in the first round

So how did the son of an International Boxing hall of Fame fighter end up in a banquet hall 7 miles North of the Massachusetts state line?

“I’m friends with Peter Czymbor [Boston Boxing Promotions’ president],” said Holyfield’s promoter, Kathy Duva, who is in the most recent class of IBHOF inductees and promoted Holyfield’s father. “The energy and the atmosphere here is like when we started out at Ice World in Totowa, New Jersey.”

Said Holyfield, “I was glad to be up here in New Hampshire. It’s a fighting state with lots of great fans.”

Cicero, a 38-year-old native of Mexico, dropped to 16-19-3 (7).

Holyfield’s fight was one of 11 on the card, which was fought in front of a sellout crowd of approximately 1,000. It was the second show in Boston Boxing Promotions ‘ Great American Boxing Bash series, with the third show taking place on Friday, Aug. 6, also in Windham, New Hampshire. The main event is a bout for a vacant NABA USA welterweight title between Brandon Berry and Travis Castelton.

In Friday’s other scheduled six-round bout, middleweight Travis Gabarella of Revere, Mass. stopped Eddie Gates of Atlanta in the first round at 1:39. Gambarella is 7-1-2 (3). Gates is 2-18 (1).

Debuting welterweight Nate Balakin of Tyngsboro, Mass. won a four-round decision against Jader Alves De Oliveira of Framingham, Mass. All three judges scored it 40-36.De Oliveira dropped to 0-7.

Junior welterweight Alejandro Paulino of New London, Conn. stopped Carlos Galindo of Woburn, Mass. in the first round of a scheduled four. The fight ended after Paulino dropped Galindo with a body shot. Referee Leo Gerstel stopped the fight at 1:35. Paulino is 3-0, all knockouts; Galindo is 1-16.

In a battle of debuting junior welterweights, Gabriel Morales of Lowell, Mass. stopped Kam Arnold of Lewiston, Maine in the first round of a scheduled four. Gerstel stopped the fight at 57 seconds.

Kyle Cusick of Fall River, Mass. stopped Paolo De Sousa of Woburn, Mass. in the third round of a scheduled four at DeSousa. There were some good exchanges between two fighters in the first two rounds, before Cusick dropped De Sousa three times in the third. Morrell stopped the fight at 2:49.

Lightweight Kevin Walsh of Brockton, Mass. picked up his second win in as many fights, stopping Mike Taylor of Cortland, New York in the first round of a four-rounder. The end came at 2:12 after two knockdowns, both on body shots.

James Perkins of Lynn, Mass. stopped debuting Andrew Murray of Rutland, Vt. in the first round of a scheduled four. Perkins (5-0-1, 4 KOs) swarmed over Murray at the opening bell, dropping him in a neutral corner before the fight ended 31 seconds after it began.

Ryan Clark of Barrington, N.H. debuted with a first0-round stoppage of Robert Brick of New York in a junior middleweight bout. Bricks dropped to 0-7.

LaQuan Lewis of New York won a second-round TKO victory against Mike Taylor of Ticonderoga, N.Y. at middleweight Lewis (7-12-1, 4 KOs) dropped the debuting Taylor twice in the second round before Leo Gerstel stopped the fight at 2:13.

In the opener, Malik Jackson of Newark, N.J. out-pointed debuting Christian Torres of Endwell, N.Y. in a four-rounder at super middleweight. John Madfis scored it 40-36, while Martha Tremblay and Eddie Scuncio scored it 39-37. Jackson is now 4-10-4 (2).