Middleweight prospect Eric Priest outpointed Jose Sanchez in 10 uneventful rounds Saturday at The Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas, in the last preliminary bout on the William Zepeda–Maxi Hughes fight card.
Priest (13-0, 8 KOs), from Wichita Falls, Texas, was able to preserve his undefeated record, if not turn heads against Mexico’s Sanchez (21-5, 12 KOs). The final tallies on the scorecards were 100-90 and 99-91 twice.
The action, such as it was, didn’t begin to pick up until the middle of the second round, when Priest’s superior hand speed and boxing skills began to show.
Priest also controlled the third and fourth, but Sanchez found some success with his counter right hands.
Trained by Ismael Salas, Priest continued to win almost every remaining round with his aggression and hand speed, but he wasn’t able to hurt his opponent until buzzing Sanchez in the middle of the ninth. Yet Sanchez remained on his feet, and Priest never really threatened again before the final bell.
Tristan Kalkreuth Keeps Streaking, TKOs Marquice Weston
Tristan “Sweet T” Kalkreuth (12-1) won his fifth fight in a row when he finished Marquice Weston (15-3-1) via second-round technical knockout in their cruiserweight showdown.
Kalkreuth, a towering (6-foot-5) Texan now based in Las Vegas, got off to a slow start against Weston, of Seattle. After the customary feeling-out opening round, Kalkreuth – trained by Brian “BoMac” McIntyre – began to look for his spots.
He found one in a hurry, dropping Weston with a big left hook, which left Weston in no condition to continue and led to a stoppage at 1:33 in the second round.
Joel Iriarte Stops Bryan Carguacundo in Pro Debut
Joel Iriarte (1-0) began the show – and his professional career – with a bang, stopping Bryan Carguacundo (3-6-2) in the first round of the opening bout.
Iriarte, a tall and lanky welterweight from Bakersfield, California, was very aggressive in attacking his undersized opponent from the start. Carguacundo, a southpaw from Spain, managed to stay on his feet, but ultimately ate several flush shots from Iriarte that prompted the referee to call a halt to the bout at the 1:26 mark of the first.