ONTARIO, Calif. — Samuel Teah resurrected his career with an upset unanimous decision over the previously unbeaten Enriko Gogokhia on Saturday in their 8-round junior welterweight at the Toyota Arena in Ontario, Calif.

Teah (19-4-1, 8 knockouts) of Philadelphia scored a knockdown in round 1 on a looping right hand, and controlled the ring with his footwork and jab. Gogokhia (13-1-2, 8 KOs) of Woodland Hills, Calif. by way of Zugdidi, Georgia looked to punch his way into the fight, using his straight left hand to the body, but was never able to hurt Teah.

The win is the second in a row for the Liberia native Teah, who had been knocked out in three rounds by Brandun Lee in March of 2021. The up-and-down career of Teah also saw him pull off significant wins over current WBC junior lightweight titleholder O’Shaquie Foster, plus Kenneth Sims Jr. and Sonny Fredrickson.

Could Samuel Teah's first-round knockdown be the difference our eight-round prelims opener? 🤔

Tune into the #FigueroaMagsayo Prelims LIVE: https://t.co/P0yALPP9Tu#GogokhiaTeah pic.twitter.com/Ke8nuI1Km2

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) March 4, 2023

Rashiem Jefferson, Teah’s head trainer, said the win was big for Teah, who had considered putting boxing to focus on his main career as a SEPTA bus driver in Philadelphia.

“The key to victory was taking away his hook and walking him down. Pressuring him and don’t let him get confident. You give a bum confidence and he ain’t a bum no more,” said Jefferson, who is known colloquially as Coach Rell.

The 31-year-old Gogokhia is now winless in his last three bouts, having draw in back-to-back fights with Kent Cruz last year.

The fight opened the Showtime online stream for the Brandon Figueroa-Mark Magsayo card, which will air live on Showtime.

In the first untelevised bout of the card, junior lightweight prospect Anthony Cuba (5-0-2, 3 KOs) of Fontana, Calif. shut out Darel Harris (7-21-2, 5 KOs) of Sarasota, Fla. by scores of 60-54.

Ryan Songalia has written for ESPN, the New York Daily News, Rappler and The Guardian, and is part of the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism Class of 2020. He can be reached at [email protected].