Richard Riakporhe stopped Fabio Turchi in the second round of their cruiserweight main event on Sky Sports, dropping the Italian with a body shot.
Turchi (20-2, 14 KO) did get up, and referee Steve Gray was ready to let him try to continue, but Turchi’s cornerman literally raced fully into and across the ring to wave the towel so that Gray wouldn’t miss it, resulting in the TKO at 1:43 of the second round.
Riakporhe (15-0, 11 KO) may not have the best boxing skills in the cruiserweight division, but he absolutely can punch, he’s improved his overall game since his decision wins over Chris Billam-Smith and Jack Massey in 2019, and he’s been looking dangerous in his last three.
At 32, Riakporhe is probably not going to have a whole lot of time to get better and take advantage of his natural prime, and the cruiserweight division isn’t exactly overflowing with all-around great talents, either. He has to be taken seriously as a contender in the division, if for no other reason than he really is a dangerous puncher.
Here’s the finish:
Richard Riakporhe lands a big blow on Fabio Turchi, knocking him to the canvas
Tuchi’s corner throw in the towel and it is OVER already! pic.twitter.com/CgTR6RCugs
— Sky Sports Boxing (@SkySportsBoxing) June 11, 2022
Undercard results and highlights
- Lauren Price PTS-6 Valgerdur Gudstensdottir: The pro debut for Price, who won Olympic gold for Great Britain as a middleweight at Tokyo 2020. At 27, the Welsh prospect should be moved pretty quickly. The referee had it 60-54, which is the only score. Price dominated.
- Zak Chelli UD-10 Germaine Brown: Scores were 97-94, 98-93, and 98-92. I think this was a Commonwealth title eliminator at 168. It was for the English title, which Chelli (12-1-1, 6 KO) now has. Brown takes his first L, dropping to 12-1 (3 KO) in defeat.
- Chris Kongo UD-10 Sebastian Formella: Scores were 97-94, 97-93, and 98-92. Solid win for Kongo, who goes to 14-1 (7 KO). World titles are not in his future, but for European level this is a very nice W.
- Viddal Riley TKO-1 Jone Volau
- Jeamie TKV TKO-1 Jake Darnell: Jeamie TKV’s birth name is Jeamie Tshikeva but if he wants to go by “TKV,” who am I to argue? I’ve been calling people by battery and supermarket sponsorship names out of Thailand for decades. But it is funny that the Brits are apparently willing to go with this but insisting on calling Canelo “Saul.”
- Ebonie Jones PTS-6 Bec Connolly (60-54)
- Shannon Ryan PTS-4 Gemma Ruegg (40-36)
- Jimmy Lee TKO-3 Ricky Starkey