Former NFL stars! Kimbo Slice Jr.! Fights!
It’s been awhile, but the Land of Misfit Toys (see what I did there?) has returned with a new card of boxing action coming to you live from New Orleans, La., tonight (Fri., April 21, 2023) at 8 p.m. ET on DAZN. Now, this card might not feature you Maniacs’ favorite boxer, Jake Paul, but there’s plenty of action tangential to our normal haunts.
For starters, we’ve got Chris Avila (2-0 boxing), whose resume aside from being Nate Diaz’s training partner includes multiple fights under the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Bellator banners. He’ll be facing Paul Bamba, and if that name seems vaguely familiar to you, he was supposed to fight Tommy Fury on a Mayweather Exhibition Tour card, but Fury missed weight badly and that was scrapped last-minute. Bamba is no joke, as he’s a 5-2 professional boxer with four knockouts to his credit.
Fan favorite, “Baby Slice” Kevin Ferguson Jr., returns to combat sport action for the first time in 2.5 years, taking on newcomer Okem Jibunor, better known to some as O.J. Rosé.
Finally, the name that most (American sports fans, at least) will recognize is former NFL star running back Le’Veon Bell, who is returning to action after suffering his first loss in combat sports to UFC veteran, Uriah Hall, on the undercard of Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva. The 31-year-old is easily one of the biggest mainstream names to wade into the influencer boxing scene, and he’ll attempt to return to the form that saw him knockout fellow NFL rusher, Adrian Peterson, eight months ago in his debut (watch it) as he goes against British Youtuber, Joel “JMX” Morris. Morris holds a combined 4-0 combat sports record, including one win in mixed martial arts (MMA).
@unclepizza01 with the slap!
There’s got to be a pizza joke that goes with this, but I’m not funny enough…
Give us one in the replies #JMXBell | April 21 | @MF_DAZNXSeries | @PrimeHydrate | @Stake pic.twitter.com/e2WFSaKEB3
— Misfits Boxing (@MisfitsBoxing) April 19, 2023
Misfits & DAZN: X Series 6 Quick Results
200 lbs.: Le’Veon Bell def. JMX — Unanimous Decision 40-36 x2, 39-37
175 lbs.: Chris Avila def. Paul Bamba — Unanimous Decision 40-34, 40-35 x2
160 lbs.: OJ Rosé def. Kimbo Slice Jr. — TKO Rd. 2, 2:00
220 lbs.: Minikon draws Jake The Viking — 39-37, 37-39, 38-38
140 lbs.: Walid Sharks def. Stamaur Mitchell — KO Rd. 2, 1:34
220 lbs.: Stevie Knight def. Chase DeMoor — Disqualification, strikes to a grounded opponent (HIGHLIGHTS)
135 lbs.: Christian “Uncle Pizza” Wardy def. Elijah Smith — Split Decision 39-36 x2, 37-38
Misfits & DAZN: X Series 6 Play-By-Play Results
Le’Veon Bell vs. JMX
Round 1: Bell in pink, Morris in white. Morris using his jab so far. Bell just misses on a right. Bell with a couple of body jabs. Series of right hands from Bell makes JMX clinch up. Overhand lands for Le’Veon on the nose, but it was at the very end of the punch, so JMX is none the worse for wear.
10-9 Bell
Round 2: Bell knocks JMX down with a nice right, but the ref rules it a slip and we’re back. JMX gets hit directly in the bread basket. 3-2 by Bell. Right hand by Bell. Bell being patiently aggressive here, constantly walking forward and throwing a nice right hand when he gets in range. Morris isn’t doing anything to earn Bell’s respect.
10-9 Bell, almost 10-8 even if that wasn’t a knockdown
Round 3: Bell flicks out a straight left and dodges the return fire. Right hand from Morris. Bell puts his forehead on the neck of JMX and rips to the body. Morris looks tired and is holding on now. JMX with a couple of rabbit punches, but eating ten body shots. JMX has a leaking cut above his left eyebrow and the ref brings in the doc. We’re back in the action now. Bell with a feint and a right.
10-9 Bell
Round 4: The Morris corner is pissed at the ringside doc for fiddling with the corner after the cutman worked hard to stop the bleeding. The ref gives the cutman time to reapply some vaseline. Bell comes out like a fireball right now. He’s swinging and landing quite a bit. JMX fires back in desperation. Bell takes his foot off the gas a bit and he’s just back to his previous measured pressure. Bell turns out of a clinch and gets in a straight right. Bell is smiling now. There’s a right and a left by Morris. Bell takes a step back and then starts moving forward again. Good right hand directly on the cut brow of Morris.
10-9 Bell
Final result: Le’Veon Bell defeats Joel “JMX” Morris 40-36 x2, 39-37
Chris Avila vs. Paul Bamba
Round 1: Bamba in black, Avila in white. Bamba on the front foot to start. They clinch and ignore the ref’s call to stop, which gives us a short lecture by said ref. Avila with a right hand by the ear. Now one from Paul. Avila gets a check hook to land. rights from both men. Avila with some volume. Bamba swings forward and connects now. Nice right by Avila.
10-9 Avila
Round 2: Chris with some nice footwork as Paul swings past him and Avila lands a right. 5-piece combo for Bamba and a couple of those hit well. Jab by Bamba, winging left from Avila. Solid right hand pops Avila’s head back. Shot of Nate Diaz in the crowd. Ref warns Bamba for holding. Avila throwing in volume and landing about 60% of them.
10-9 Avila
Round 3: The ref took a point from Bamba for a late punch at the end of round 2. Bamba lands a jab and evades a left from Avila. Avila walking Bamba down now. Avila landing in bunches again. Bamba with an uppercut back. Nice right hand from Avila. He’s teeing off here. Bamba not getting blown out here, but plenty of them are landing well.
10-8 Avila
Round 4: There’s a fight among the influencers in the crowd (see it here). The announce team thinks it’s Chase DeMoor involved with Nate Diaz’s friends. Rights from both men. Bamba is complaining about a shot to the back of the head, but he turned as Avila was throwing. Better round for Bamba so far, but still not enough so far. Getting a bit sloppy now. There’s a few connections from both men in between clinching.
10-9 Avila
Final result: Chris Avila defeats Paul Bamba – 40-34, 40-35 x2
“Baby Slice” Kevin Ferguson Jr. vs. O.J. Rosé
Round 1: Slice in blue, OJ in green. OJ on the offensive early, but doesn’t land anything clean. Slice connects to the body with a left. OJ backs up Kevin and lands twice to the body. Slice with a big uppercut and a jab. OJ mostly staying on the front foot here. Good body work from both men. Ferguson looking a bit tired from the pace OJ is setting.
10-9 Ferguson Jr.
Round 2: Rosé with a nice clean left. And a big right. Slice with a 1-2, but not much on it. He backs up Slice and is swinging away. Overhand. Big right uppercut jacks his head back. OJ is swarming and the ref yells at Ferguson to fight back. No punches come from Kevin and it’s stopped!
Final result: O.J. Rosé defeats Kevin “Baby Slice” Ferguson Jr. via TKO, 2:00 round 2
Minikon vs. Jake the Viking
Round 1: Minikon in purple, Jake in black. Minikon with a body jab to open up. Jake with a 1-2. Minikon connects with a nice right that forces a hold from Viking. Another right hand, but Viking rolls with it a bit. Minikon connects with a jab. Minikon wings a right on a break from a clinch. Jake looks noticeably slower of the two. Gets in a right there.
10-9 Minikon
Round 2: Jake connecting a little more here as Minikon looks a bit slower now. They’re connecting fairly well on each other here. Minikon with a big right and a left that sends Jake into a clinch. Jake loses his balance and he’s down, but it’s called a slip. Minikon goes in for the kill, but manages to get caught clean on a short right counter. Now he’s stumbling and JtV is pouring it on. Big uppercut. Jake looks tired af, but every time that Minikon gets within hands range, he starts throwing and landing.
10-9 Jake
Round 3: Jake gets caught with a right and spins around! He’s exhausted. Jab from Minikon lands and pops Jake’s head back. There’s a jab back. Now both men hit jabs. Jake lands a right at the end of his range. They clinch and Minikon with a huge left off the break. The ref admonishing them to stop hugging. Both men look like they need a nap.
10-9 Minikon
Round 4: JtV with a pair of sloppy rights. Both men connect their left hand to the target. Good swing by Jake, but it misses. Lands two less-pretty looking lefts. And a right. Minikon gets in a short uppercut. Straight left sneaks in for Minikon as the round winds down.
10-9 Jake
Final result: Minikon and Jake the Viking fight to a split draw, 39-37, 38-38, 37-39
Walid Sharks vs. Stamaur Mitchell
Round 1: Sharks in neon green, Mitchell in black. Mitchell (AKA “Ayye Pap”) pumping the jab, eats a counter left. 1-2 from Sharks and one in return from Mitchell. Sharks gets in a right. Sharks is extending his combos and is working his right hand clean. Mitchell fighting back and knocks Sharks’ mouthpiece out in an exchange.
10-9 Sharks
Round 2: 3-2 from Sharks, but Mitchell bites down on his mouthpiece and lands one back. This sequence repeats itself. He’s got heart. Looping left hook and Pap is dropped. He beats the count. Walid is aggressive now that he smells blood. Swarming and a big right flush on the face sends Mitchell down again. He does not beat this count.
Final result: Walid Sharks def. Stamaur Mitchell. Knockout, round 2, 1:34
Chase DeMoor vs. Stevie Knight
Round 1: Unfortunately, the scheduled 8 p.m. start time decided to go early. That said, there’s a highlight clip right here of what went down and boy, it’s not good. Long story short, DeMoor got the knockout, but kept punching Knight as he was on the ground, so he got DQ’d.
Final results: Stevie Knight defeatgs Chase DeMoor via disqualification, striking a grounded opponent.
Christian Wardy vs. Elijah Smith
Round 1: Wardy, AKA Uncle Pizza, in yellow. Smith, AKA YuddygangTV, is in black. Wardy going almost exclusively to the body so far. YGTV is circling well and using his footwork to avoid many of the shots. Counter right for Smith. Decent hands from both men for amateurs, to be honest. Smith with a nice uppercut in the clinch. Unc keeps ducking to the body and gets caught coming in this time.
10-9 Smith in a close round
Round 2: Wardy hits a double jab, Smith with one back. Good dirty boxing in the clinch here. Smith loses his mouthpiece for a second time and collects a warning. This is phone booth fighting here. Decent short punches here. There goes Smith’s mouthpiece and there goes a point. Pizza backs him up to the ropes and keeps firing away. Wardy with a jab at the end.
9-9 round
Round 3: Holding and clinching to start. Now we’ve got some distance and they’re swinging. Both men connecting well. Pizza hits him with a left hook and that knocks Smith’s mouthpiece out yet again. Ref warns him of another point deduction at the next occurrence. Yuddy walks forward and lambasts Wardy with a big right hand. Possibly the cleanest strike of the match. Pizza backs him up and gets in a nice uppercut. He repeats this and gets some nice offense off it.
10-9 Wardy
Round 4: Yuddy with a jab, Pizza gets in a right. Wardy caught coming in with an uppercut. Solid pop-pop-pop from both men. Smith gets in a left hand, while evading an uppercut from Wardy. Twenty seconds left.
10-9 Smith
Final results: Christian “Uncle Pizza” Wardy defeats Elijah “YuddygangTV” Smith – 39-36, 39-36, 37-38.
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