From Sony Hall, Manhattan – After a slow start, jr. welterweight contender Kurt Scoby (18-1, 16 ko) found a way to get going downhill and put a sequence of offense together to stop the tricky and slick Alex Martin in round 8 of a scheduled 10.

Martin (19-9, 6 ko) had success early behind his movement and jab, keeping the fight at the end of his punches and not allowing Scoby to get started with anything or get his feet set. Scoby also seemed to be following Martin a bit. But in the 3rd, Scoby upped the foot pressure and started to find the left hook to the body as he pushed Martin to the ropes. 

The 4th is where the tone of the fight changed from tactical to physical as Scoby started to cut the ring off and sit down on his punches with bad intentions. The body work started to accumulate, and the straight right hand started to find a home. This would continue in the 5th and 6th, while the 7th would see Martin become somewhat reinvigorated despite a point deduction for excessive holding.

Scoby would then mount an absolute flurry to start the eighth with no answer from Martin, forcing the referee to stop the fight. Scoby has now won 5 straight since his loan defeat to Dakota Linger back in April 2024 and looks to be on the right track. At times during this fight he was a little one-and-done, loading up on individual power shots and allowing escape routs for the crafty Martin. But the combinations came more as the fight went on, and Scoby showed the power and punch variety of at a minimum, a strong contender at 140 lbs.

In a bit of an upset in the co-feature, Andres a Martinez (6-4, 3 ko) was able to drop crowd favorite Nadim Salloum (13-3, 7 ko) in the first and outwork him down the stretch to earn a split decision by scores of 57-56, 57-56 (Salloum) and 59-54. ITRboxing scored the fight 58-55 for Martinez.

Salloum, whether in the front foot or the back foot just couldn’t pull the trigger on his counters as Martinez would throw wide combinations with often no answer for Salloum, who just looked a half a step behind. 

The first three rounds saw an aggressive Martinez catch Salloum off guard with his activity and intensity, Pushing Salloum back and showing no hesitation to let his big punches go early, dropping and legitimately hurting Salloumin the opening round. But Salloum would rally in the 4th and 5th, backing Martinez up and making him uncomfortable as it looked like the tide was turning, but it was too little too late as Martinez found one more volley in the 6th to edge Salloum. A great win for Martinez, but Salloum, who has lost two of his last three, will have to go back to the drawing board. 

• In rough, physical fight with with no shortage of holding that saw the two fighters unable to create distance, welterweight prospect and Harlem native Armando Barbier (3-0, 1 ko) was able to grind out a split decision over Ricardo Jimenez (0-3-1), closing the show and dropping him in the 4th. Barbier, though seeming to clearly win each round (the split decision was surprising), didn’t yet seem to have the sense of range or timing to create distance to land the knockout punch he seemed so desperate to land. Barbier spoke to that post fight, promising “not to chase it” going forward 

• In a fun back and forth scrap, heavyweight contender George Arias (19-1-1, 7 ko) was able to close range and win a banger over veteran Earl Newman (10-5-1, 7 ko) by scores of 78-74 (twice) and 79-73. ITRBoxing scored the fight for Arias 78-74. Arias jumped on Newman early and seemed committed to forcing the former light heavyweight in Newman to the ropes and throwing combinations, but Newman was slippery enough to make Arias miss at times and create enough space for his counters with his back against the ropes. The fourth round was the most spirited of the fight and round five saw Newman turn the table, forcing Arias’ back to the ropes, but Arias would close the show strong to clearly take a competitive decision. Arias, in just his second fight back since his lone knockout loss to Jared Anderson, won for the first time since June 2022.

• Super middleweight prospect Donte Layne (8-0, 7 ko) of Elmont New York make quick work of Mirady Lubanzadio Zola (5-4-1, 2 ko) dropping him in the first and finishing him off with a brutal left uppercut in the second that sent Zola to mat. Layne, who came out patiently in round one and picked his shots carefully and accurately after Zola showed a willingness to throw with him early, maintained his range and dominated once he had his distance dialed in. Zola appeared to get up before the end of the count, but the ref had seen enough and called the fight off, which didn’t seem like a terrible call.