David Light overcame a knockdown in the final round to defeat Brandon Glanton by split decision late Friday night at the Whitesands (aka ProBox TV) Event Center in Plant City, Florida. 

One judge scored the bout 95-94 for Glanton, while the other two judges scored the bout 97-92 and 95-94 for Light, who improves to 20-0 (12 knockouts). 

Light, who resides in North Shore, New Zealand, was effective in throwing and landing punches then holding onto Glanton, which prevented Glanton from launching his arsenal of punches. While in the pocket, Light was able to connect with right uppercuts to Glanton’s head.

When there was separation between the two, Glanton was able to connect with a sweeping left hook or right cross to the head. 

The middle rounds were won by Light, as he was the more effective fighter. By the eighth round, sensing he was down in the fight, Glanton let his hands go with more authority, at times missing but putting Light on the defensive. 

Glanton was the more effective fighter in the ninth round, and he finally hit paydirt about a minute into the 10th round, when he dropped Light against the ropes with a straight, counter right hand to the head. Light was able to beat the count and remain on his feet as Glanton tried to put him away, but Light managed to make it to the final bell.

The fight was an intriguing matchup of unbeaten cruiserweights who are ranked in the top 10 by the WBO. 

Glanton, who resides in Conyers, Georgia, drops to 17-1 (14 KOs). 

In the co-feature, junior middleweight Marques Valle of nearby Winter Chapel remained unbeaten after Luis Midyael Sanchez was disqualified in the second for excessive holding. 

Valle (7-0, 6 KOs) was the more effective fighter throughout the brief fight. Sanchez would throw punches and then grab onto Valle. Referee Dennis Debon warned Sanchez (9-4, 6 KOs) and eventually deducted two points midway through the second round. Later in the round, at 2:22, Debon disqualifies Sanchez.

Confusion followed as Sanchez’s corner protested to Debon and the Florida Commission on whether Debon was too quick with the point deductions and disqualification of Sanchez.

Junior welterweight Mohamed Soumaoro, who is originally from Guinea and now resides in Montreal, Canada, defeated prospect Jusiyah Shirley by unanimous decision. Scores were 60-54, 59-55, and 58-56 for Soumaoro, who improves to 12-1 (5 KOs). 

The taller Shirley, who resides in nearby Orlando, drops to 7-1 (6 KOs). 

In the opening bout of the ProBox TV stream, junior welterweight Kelvin Davis (7-0, KOs) of Norfolk, Virginia remained unbeaten by scoring a knockout win over Jalen Hill at 1:31 of the fourth round.

Davis, who fights under the Top Rank banner, dropped Hill to the canvas in the third round. Midway through the fourth round, Hill backed up against the ropes and took a knee, motioning that his left hand was hurt. Referee Jose Rivera immediately stopped the fight. 

Friday night was the last ProBox TV card of 2022.

Francisco A. Salazar has written for The Ring since October 2013 and has covered boxing in Southern California and abroad since 2000. Francisco also covers boxing for the Ventura County (California) Star newspaper. He can be reached at [email protected]

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