Amari Jones made his first homecoming fight as a pro one to remember.
Jones dropped Daniel Echeverria twice en route to a knockout win late Saturday night at the Marriott on Broadway in Oakland, California.
The 22-year-old was sharp from the opening bell, effectively outboxing the southpaw Echeverria. Jones even switched from conventional to southpaw and back to southpaw, setting up combinations behind a consistent jab.
Jones dropped the game Echeverria in round two, courtesy of a left hook for the body. Echeverria beat the count and continued to fight on.
Midway through round three, Jones threw and landed a left cross to the head, dropping Echeverria to the canvas. Referee Dan Stell waved the fight off at 1.39 to the delight of partisan crowd of Jones’ supporters.
Saturday’s win marked Jones’ first fight as a pro in his hometown of Oakland. On December 9, which took place across the San Francisco Bay in San Francisco, Jones stopped Quilisto Madera in the fifth round on the undercard of the Devin Haney-Regis Prograis fight.
In his previous fight on April 20, Jones dominated once-beaten Armel Mbumba-Yassa for five rounds before ending matters at 39 seconds of round six.
Jones has appeared on a handful of fight cards where Devin Haney has headlined, including the very close decision win over Vasiliy Lomachecko on May 20 of last year. The win over Mbumba-Yassa took place on the undercard of Haney’s first defeat as a pro at the hands of Ryan Garcia.
Jones has had Bill Haney, Devin’s trainer, in his corner. For the win over Echeverria, Jones had Julius Pruitt and Joseph Peres in his corner.
Echeverria, who resides in Gomez Palacio, Mexico, falls to 21-13, 18 KOs. The loss to Jones was Echeverria’s first since a knockout loss to Abilkhan Amankul on April 15 of last year. Jones improved to 13-0, 12 knockouts.
Dating back to August 2019, Echeverria has now lost his last five fights. Echeverria has defeats to Egidijus Kavaliauskas, Shakhram Giyasov and Souleymane Cissokho, all by knockout.
Light heavyweight Suray Mahmutovic of nearby Daly City defeated Anthony Hollaway by unanimous decision. Scores were 59-55, 59-55 and 60-54 for Mahmutovic, who improved to 7-1-1, 6 KOs.
Hollaway, who resides in Peoria, Illinois, falls to 7-7-3, 6 KOs.
Dante Kirkman, a 22-year-old who resides in nearby Palo Alto, defeated Mexico City Miguel Soto-Garcia (1-4) by unanimous decision. Kirkman improved to 2-0 and is a student at Stanford University, which is located in Palo Alto.
Saturday’s card was co-promoted by Upper Cut Promotions and Lion’s Den Boxing Promotions.
Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at santio89@yahoo.com
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