Dmitriy Salita took virtually every round against Brandon Hoskins in winning a unanimous decision at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. Salita varied his attack throughout the fight, but Hoskins managed to tag him more than expected.
Salita told Jerry Glick before the fight, "I have to look impressive, and I have to look great to put myself into title contention." Though winning just about every round, Salita's hometown crowd sat passively as the fight progressed, indicating that he did not impress to quite the degree he had hoped.
Hoskins was often willing to trade, but Dmitriy tended to punctuate the exchanges with scoring blows as he did at the end of the first. He countered well throughout and utilized his left hook effectively. Hoskins landed his share of overhand rights during the first four rounds, but it simply wasn't enough. In the fifth, Hoskins added the left hook to his arsenal, but Salita finished the round with a flurry of chopping rights. Dmitriy dominated the sixth round.
The scores were 60-54, 59-55 twice. Salita weighed 150 pounds and Hoskins, a resident of Hannibal, Missouri, weighed 147.25 pounds. Salita came to the arena not long before his fight began as he waited until Shabbat had ended to make the trip. Dmitriy advances to 35-1-1 with 18 KOs and Hoskins falls to 16-3-1, with 8 KOs
Earlier in the evening, Boyd Melson battled to a draw against Jason Thompson in the first ever fight at Barclays Center. Both men were sent to the canvas although it appeared Melson controlled much of the fight.
The cavernous arena was sparsely populated when the fight began just after 5pm. But those in attendance were boisterous for Boyd. Melson entered the ring to Alicia Keys's "Girl on Fire." In the first, both men bounced on their toes. Melson, nicknamed the "Rainmaker," hit Thompson with a big left and a right hook before finding himself too square and touching the canvas after a big Thompson right.
Thompson spent most of the rest of the fight attempting to replicate that riveting right, resulting in a reluctance to throw. Melson's lead lefts and short right hooks contributed to Thompson's inactive hands. Boyd's short right hooks were most impressive. A quick combo knocked Thompson off his feet in the third. He looked hurt and showed courage in continuing.
The fourth period was closer as Thompson finally began to jab. But Melson controlled range. In the fifth, he boxed and bullied his way to the round. Thompson landed his rights in the sixth, but Melson was still right there with him.
It seemed as if Melson won every round after the first, and he was winning that one before the knockdown came. But all three judges scored the contest 56-56. Boyd told The Jewish Boxing Blog that he is, "Highly frustrated with the decision." He has reason to be.
He explained, "I believe you can find a round at best to give him outside the first. [I am] really frustrated as well because I won the first had I never went down." Despite the unexpected result, Melson was gracious to his opponent. He continued, "Outside of that he fought extremely hard and showed some heart getting up like he did to fight back after I knocked him down."
After the dubious draw, Melson, who weighed 155 pounds, is now 10-1-1 with 4 KOs while Thompson, who was 151 pounds, moves to 5-6-2 with 4 KOs.
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