Ardreal “Bossman” Holmes relied on his superior height, boxing skills and movement to win a split decision that didn’t seem as close as the scores indicated in a fight against an aggressive Ismael “Maelo” Villarreal in a 10-round super welterweight fight Friday Live on SHOWTIME from the Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka, Kansas.

After standing in the penalty area and taking too many shots during their March win ^® In his match against Vernon Brown, the undefeated Holmes, a standout amateur, took a safer route to victory on Friday, or so he thought, keeping the aggressive Villarreal at bay when he got too close and counting on his straight punches to earn him points.

Holmes, of Flint, Michigan, won 96-94, 97-93 and 94-96 to improve to 13-0 with five knockouts, while Villarreal (12-1, eight knockouts) remained at 224.^t undefeated boxer who suffered his first defeat in , a mark of competitive matchmaking in a long streak. Holmes’ jab was the difference as he outscored Villarreal 50-8 and landed 422 punches to 269 overall in a show of authority that wasn’t reflected on the scorecards.

“I felt like he won two, three rounds,” Holmes said. “I don’t know where that one card came from. I felt like I dominated the fight and I felt like I could have won the middle two or three rounds, but that was the maximum. I felt like I beat him in the fight and in the fight. I felt like it was a step up from my last fight, and that was a tougher one. I’ve only had 13 fights, so I’m going to keep improving.”

The main event was a classic matador-versus-bull duel, with the 6’8” Holmes maintaining distance with jabs and right hooks, while Villarreal tried to force his way inside with wide, descending punches. Both were successful, but Holmes seemed to control the tempo of the fight and frustrate his onrushing opponent.

Villarreal, of the Bronx, Fresh York, landed a flush a minute into the sixth round as Holmes was backed into the corner, but Holmes landed a hook to Villarreal to support him and confidently fought on the inside when he wanted. Villarreal landed a brief right a minute into the seventh round, but Holmes stepped away. At that point, the left-handed Holmes began to move forward and support Villarreal with his jab.

Villarreal landed a tough right that briefly rocked Holmes with a minute left in the eighth round. But he didn’t follow through, and Villarreal, who had only made it past the sixth round once before this fight, seemed to tire a little toward the end. Holmes landed a left hook in the final minute of the ninth, but Villarreal landed a right hook that seemed to stun Holmes as he lay against the ropes, ending the round. Villarreal went all out in the final round, landing a flurry of punches as Holmes covered up. After knocking out undefeated LeShawn Rodriguez in a upset last July, Villarreal was unable to repeat those heroics Friday as Holmes boxed to victory.

In the supporting fight, Edward Vazquez showed off his improved conditioning and power, knocking down Misael Lopez to win a split decision in a fast-paced, spirited 10-round featherweight bout. Vazquez won 96-93, 95-94, and 94-95 to improve his record to 14-1 with 3 KOs. Lopez, in his third outing, lost for the second time in a series of ruthless prospects, improving his record to 14-2 with 5 KOs. The only blemish on Vazquez’s record was his controversial split decision loss to undefeated former National Golden Gloves champion Raymond Ford a year ago. This time, Vazquez got the upper hand.

“Of course I thought so [the scorecards] were wider than that,” said Vazquez, of Fort Worth, Texas, who said he plans to run a half marathon Saturday. “I thought he was showing off a little bit, but that doesn’t mean he was doing anything effective. That’s what professional boxing is all about, being effective with your punches, and he didn’t do any of that. Most of the time he was just throwing some pitter-patter punches.”

The difference in the score was a knockdown. Vazquez, 27, dropped Lopez with a left wing punch to the top of Lopez’s head that landed behind his ear midway through the second round. Lopez quickly got back to his feet but took several more punches as the round ended. Lopez didn’t think it was a knockdown.

“I didn’t feel the punch,” said Lopez, a Denver resident. “I thought it should have been considered a slip. I didn’t feel anything. I started a little tardy, but I thought I had the class by the end and just outboxed him.”

It was a thrilling fight that pitted Vazquez’s aggressive, relentless pressure against Lopez’s boxing skills in Lopez’s first fight with respected trainer Manny Robles. Every time Lopez seemed to rain down punches, Vazquez timed his opponent with solid left hooks as the two frequently traded blows in the middle of the ring.

“The key was the left hook in the second fight,” Vazquez said. “He definitely lost his balance, but I hit him with the left hook and that’s the game. In my last fight, the same thing happened, but it wasn’t called. So you never know.”

In the first televised match, Kurt Scoby defeated John Mannu in a 140-pound fight, knocking down the Australian four times and finishing the fight at 1:40 of the second round with a left to the body, his sixth consecutive knockout. Scoby improved to 11-0 with nine KOs, while Mannu, in his U.S. debut, dropped to 7-1-1, becoming the 223rd^rd the undefeated warrior suffered his first defeat.

“I don’t get paid overtime, so I had to get him out of there,” said Scoby, a former high school and college standout quarterback who tried out for four NFL teams but never made it. “The game plan was always to stick with the jabs. If you have a mighty team and you believe, you can do anything in the world. You know what I want right now? I just want to go home and understand myself a little better. That’s my next opponent.”

It was a surprisingly dominant and fast-paced performance by Scoby, who had mostly faced lightweights before this fight, but showed he was ready for more advanced competition. Scoby, who weighed 215 pounds when he played football, knocked Mannu down with a straight right hook just seconds into the second round. Moments later, another right hook from the muscular Scoby knocked Mannu down, who quickly got back to his feet but didn’t stay up for long as he was knocked down by another right hook. This time, when he got up, it was on wobbly legs. The end came when Scoby, 27, landed a right hook to Mannu’s head and followed it up with a dagger left hook to Mannu’s chest, which knocked him down a fourth time, causing referee Jacob Villa to wave the fight off.

Scoby is a former high school and NCAA Division I football star who rushed for 2,206 yards and 35 touchdowns in his senior year at Monrovia High School in Duarte, California. He signed to play at Fresno State University as a criminal justice major and didn’t play for a team his freshman year. He transferred to Azusa Pacific University in the San Gabriel Valley southeast of Los Angeles, where he ran for 2,703 yards and 16 touchdowns from 2015 to 2017. Now, he’s putting up numbers in boxing that could soon match his dominance in football. His coaches call him the “11-dollar man” because at the height of the pandemic, he bought a one-way economy plane ticket from California to Fresh York for $11, where he went to the famed Gleason’s Gym to focus on boxing.

Tonight’s tripleheader will air again on Monday, February 20th at 10:00 PM ET/PT on SHOWTIME EXTREME^®.

The card was promoted by DiBella Entertainment, owned by Lou DiBella.

Member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame Barry Tompkins he called everyone who took part in the action, including his colleague from the Hall of Fame Steve Farhood joining the team remotely as an unofficial scorer. Former junior middleweight world champion Raul Marquez and experienced combat sports reporter and co-host Brian Campbell He served as a ringside analyst. The executive producer was Gordon Hall With Richard Gaughan production and Rick Phillips head.