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Andrew Cancio outpoints Dardan Zenunaj over 10 rounds, Vendetti outboxes Kamegai

Andrew Cancio. Photo by Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/Golden Boy Promotions
Fighters Network
18
Aug

Andrew Cancio had to hold off a late rally by Dardan Zenunaj to win a hard-fought 10-round unanimous decision Friday night at the Fantasy Springs Resort Casino in Indio, California.

The fight was a crossroads clash between two boxer-punching junior lightweights with the winner moving on to bigger things.

It was all Cancio from the opening bell. The Californian landed multi-punch combinations and snapped Zenunaj’s head back with left crosses.

Sensing he was down in the fight, Zenunaj began walking Cancio down in the fifth. The Albanian fighter connected with several combinations, opening a cut on the bridge of Cancio’s nose and bruising up his face.



However, Cancio stopped Zenunaj’s momentum in Round 9, putting his man on the defensive with a sustained assault. A blazing finish in the 10th brought the crowd to their feet as both men unloaded everything on the arsenal.

Cancio (19-4-2, 14 knockouts) won by scores of 99-91, 99-91, and 96-94, but the 99-91 scorecards did not reflect the competitiveness of the fight. According to punch-stat numbers, Cancio landed 356 out of 994 total punches (36 percent), while Zenunaj connected on 278 of 1062 total punches (26 percent).

The victory was Cancio’s fourth in his last five bouts, with the only loss coming at the hands of Joseph ‘JoJo’ Diaz in September 2016.

Zenunaj, who was born in Kosovo and resides in the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks, drops to 14-5, 11 KOs.

In the co-feature, junior middleweight Greg Vendetti outboxed former world title challenger Yoshihiro Kamegai to win a 10-round unanimous decision.

Vendetti (20-2-1, 12 KOs) landed the sharper and more effective punches throughout most of the fight. Kamegai attempted to out-land Vendetti but appeared sluggish.

Scores were 98-92, 98-92, and 97-93 for Vendetti, who resides in the Boston suburb of Stoneham.

Kamegai, who resides in Tokyo, Japan, drops to 27-5-2, 24 KOs.

In preliminary action, junior welterweight prospect Luis Feliciano (8-0, 5 KOs) knocked out Jonathan Fortuna (8-2, 5 KOs) of the Dominican Republic at 2:38 of the fifth round.

 

Francisco A. Salazar has written for RingTV.com since October 2013. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at FSalazarBoxing

 

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