Otar Eranosyan and Petros Ananyan Pick Up Stoppage Victories
In a WBA junior lightweight title eliminator, Otar Eranosyan (14-0, 7KO) overcame early adversity to run over former world champion Roger Gutierrez (27-5-1, 21KO).
Eranosyan came out on fire and attacked the former world champion early. However, his over-aggression was costly as Gutierrez landed a counter right hand that dropped him in the second round.
Despite being seriously hurt, Eranosyan weathered the storm and survived the round. Afterward, he heavily applied pressure on Gutierrez, landing combination punches and uppercuts while they were up against the ropes.
The former champion was wilting and was finally deducted a point for excessive holding in the eighth round. In addition, he took a beating against the ropes before tasting the canvas.
After narrowly surviving the round, the ringside doctor called off the fight when Gutierrez took too long to respond when repeatedly asked if he wanted to continue.
The broadcast team announced that the winner of this fight would face Lamont Roach Jr. in a final eliminator. Eranosyan is on a mission, and his aggressive, volume-punching style could spell trouble for Roach Jr.
PETROS ANANYAN PULLS OFF THE LATE RALLY KNOCKOUT OVER CRISTIAN BAEZ
In a junior welterweight battle, Petros Ananyan (18-3-2, 9KO) rallied late to get the victory by stopping hard-hitting Cristian Baez (19-3, 17KO) in the seventh round.
It was the typical tale of two halves, as Baez controlled the fight in every aspect. His jab and straight left hand couldn’t miss. Moreover, his body punching, defense, and combination punches were the story of the fight early.
Ananyan looked slow, and his advanced age of 34 years was beginning to show. Amazingly, he stood up to some heavy body shots and started finding a rhythm going into the middle rounds.
It looked as if this was going to be a loss for Ananyan, until round seven. He landed a short right hook that short-circuited Baez. He landed another powerful right hand as his opponent stumbled into the ropes before going to the canvas for the ten count.
Ananyan has won two fights in a row since getting stopped by IBF champion Subriel Matias in 2022. It was a solid win, but he can’t fight any of the upper echelon guys like this.
