ShoBox results: Williams out-points Solano, Nunez and Avagyan fight to draw

A new year of Showtime boxing and the 20th anniversary year of ShoBox: The New Generation got going on Wednesday night from Connecticut, with Mykquan Williams taking a solid and clear decision over Yeis Solano in the 140-pound main event.

Williams (16-0-1, 7 KO) was the promoted B-side, for what it’s worth — though that could have been as simple as coming down to a coin toss — but was also the younger man, and the natural 140-pounder, while Solano (15-1, 10 KO) was coming up in weight.

Solano had some good moments in the fight, but Williams’ heavier hands made some difference, and he was also a good bit busier, out-working and out-landing Solano, a 28-year-old Colombian who was fighting in the U.S. for the second time.

Williams, 22 and a Connecticut native, scored an eighth round knockdown on a jab to the shoulder, and then in the 10th round, we saw a lot of controversy, all of which was over-turned after the conclusion of the fight. Referee Danny Schiavone initially ruled a point deduction against Solano for a low blow, but there wasn’t a low blow. He also scored a knockdown against Williams later in the round when both got tangled up and tumbled to the canvas. Both things were reversed, which turned a possible 9-8 round for Solano (counting the deduction) into a pretty clear 10-9 round for Williams.

Williams won on scores of 96-93, 96-93, and 97-92. Bad Left Hook also scored the fight 96-93 for Williams, who will look to work from here, possibly returning to ShoBox in the near future.

Jose Nunez D-8 Aram Avagyan

A good opener at 130 pounds, this one was tough to score and could really have gone either way. Bad Left Hook had it 77-75 for Nunez, as did judge Peter Hary, but judges John McKaie and Tom Carusone overruled that at 76-76 on each of their cards.

It’s tough to make any big argument about it, but if you feel bad for anyone here it’s probably Nunez. The 30-year-old Avagyan (10-0-2, 4 KO) is a tough, come-forward fighter who is a lot of fun to watch at this level, a really terrific test for younger prospects. The 22-year-old Nunez (11-0-2, 4 KO) had a totally different style, a wide-set stance that he used to fling power shots to the body and head, even though he’s not a particularly big puncher.

So you had an interesting style clash here. Avagyan caught Nunez open with good shots, while Nunez’s refusal to let Avagyan simply hold a high guard and walk in made for some good action. It didn’t matter if Nunez had to just batter at the biceps and elbows, he threw punches to try and get Avagyan to open up.

This could be run back on ShoBox sometime, or they could both move on to something else. But I wouldn’t mind seeing either guy again no matter what they do.