Jason Sosa beats Lydell Rhodes via TKO 7 in Philly

Saturday night, live from the Liacouras Centre, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,

Top Rank Boxing, live on ESPN+, saw local (or very close, from just down the road in New Jersey) favorite Jason Sosa going up against veteran Lydell Rhodes in the main event.

This fight was elevated into the main event slot when Irish star Carl Frampton suffered a hand injury a few days ago in a freak accident in the lobby of his hotel. Frampton was looking to use the ESPN slot to impress his new promoters at Top Rank and get himself right back in the title picture in the featherweight division. However, when his fight had to be shelved, Sosa was happy to step into the #1 slot.

Sosa, a former WBA super featherweight world champion, was looking to pick up another win and work his back into a title shot in the 130-pound division. In a rough, rugged and impressive performance, Sosa was able to dictate the pace and maintain a busier work rate, landing hard head and body shots.

The one-sided fight would see Rhodes deposited on the canvas numerous times before his corner had seen enough and stopped the fight (Sosa, TKO 7). It’s a nice victory for Sosa who will look to get himself back into the title picture before too long and win over a solid pro like Rhodes is a good step in the right direction.

Undercard:

-Middleweight Edgar Berlanga (12-0, 12 KO’s) KO 1 Gregory “Nounou” Trenel (11-5-2, 3 KO’s).

-Paul “The Punisher” Kroll (5-0, 4 KO’s) UD 6 Shinard Bunch (2-1, 2 KO’s)

-Heavyweight Sonny “The Bronco” Conto (4-0, 3 KO’s) UD 4 Guillermo Del Rio (2-3-1, 2 KO’s)

-Featherweight Donald “ No Love” Smith (10-0, 6 KO’s) UD 6 Raheem “Bazooka” Abdullah (3-3)

-Super Bantamweight “Magic Hands” Jeremy Adorno (2-0, 1 KO) KO 3 Fernando Robles (2-2)

In other boxing news…

-Former WBC middleweight champion Julio César Chávez Jr (51-3-1, 32 KO’s) KO 1 Evert Bravo (25-11-1, 19 KO’s) in San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco, Mexico.

-Unbeaten welterweight Vergil Ortiz Jr (14-0, 14 KO’s) scored a KO 6 over Antonio Orozco (28-2, 17 KOs) on Saturday night in Grand Prairie, Texas.

Heavyweight action just announced.

-Tyson Fury vs. Otto Wallin 2019-09-14 Las Vegas

-Deontay Wilder vs. Luis Ortiz 2019-11-09, Los Angeles

-Andy Ruiz Jr. vs. Anthony Joshua 2019-12-07 Saudi, Arabia