BETHLEHEM, PA—It sounded like a heavy sack of sand landing on concrete. That’s the impact Jordan White’s brunt, counter left hook carried. It was emphatic, quick and extremely powerful, leaving the previously undefeated Eridson Garcia stiff on the canvas Friday night on Showtime’s ShoBox: The New Generation, from the Wind Creek Events Center, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

A lightweight from Washington, D.C., White (15-1, 11 knockouts) stopped Garcia (17-1, 11 KOs) at 1:57 of the first round in what was supposed to be a contested fight.

White erased any thought of that with a sweeping, short shot that captured what had been a competitive night of fights.

“That’s what we did in sparring,” said White, 25. “I got that crack—crack like the 80’s. I gave him a dose. All camp we were working on counter check hooks. I knew he was going to throw something, and as soon as he dropped that right hand, I was going to check the hook over it.

“I turn 26 next month. This was an early birthday present to myself. This was supposed to be a competitive fight. Like I said, I have that crack like the 80’s.”

OH MY 😳

Jordan White scores a stunning first-round KO of Garcia with a quick left hand 💥#SHOBOX #WhiteGarcia pic.twitter.com/cxOO20Qgtj

— SHOWTIME Boxing (@ShowtimeBoxing) August 5, 2023

Paul Kroll and Guido Emmanuel Schramm finish in a draw

Junior middleweights Paul Kroll and Guido Emmanuel Schramm put om a show in the co-feature—and there was no argument when it was ruled a draw. One judge had Kroll (10-0-2, 6 KOs) winning, 77-75, overruled by two 76-76 scores.

Kroll looked very good in the opening round. He worked the body, went up top and hammered Schramm (16-1-2, 9 KOs) to the head. In the second, Schramm seemed to adjust—and adjust well. He had Kroll backing up, forcing Kroll to retreat with pounding overhand rights. Every time Kroll stood in front of Schramm, he encountered problems.

Kroll’s counter rights were giving Schramm trouble, and Schramm’s body shots were finding a home.

Guido Emmanuel Schramm unloads on Paul Kroll (Photo by StephanieTrapp/Showtime).

With 1:15 left in fourth, Schramm staggered Kroll in the corner under a barrage of shots, starting with a looping right that Kroll did not seem to find. After the fourth, Schramm was filled with confidence, raising his arms in victory.

In the fifth, Schramm walked right up to Kroll, challenging him to punch. Schramm went to the body and kept attacking Kroll. After the fifth, a cut opened on the corner of Schramm’s right eye.

As in the first, Kroll went back to boxing. He made Schramm pay each time he came close, pecking away with the jab.

In the seventh, Schramm did a strong job cornering Kroll, but Kroll slipped out of it and took the fight in the middle of the ring, where his counter punching was again effective.

As the fighters entered the eighth, it appeared Schramm would need the round to get at least a draw.

That urgency manifested itself in Schramm swinging wide rights and lefts, attempting to crowd Kroll in the corner. The two ended it like they fought it—flailing at each other.

Junior lightweight Julian Gonzalez goes eight for the first time and remains undefeated

Julian Gonzalez passed a nice test by winning an eight-round unanimous decision over Johnny Spell, 27, from Pittsburgh. The 21-year-old Gonzalez won by scores of 78-74 (2) and 79-73.

It was the first time Gonzalez went eight rounds.

“I had it going there, and I hit (Spell) with a big shot early and I thought I was going to be able to take him out,” Gonzalez said. “I was rushing it a little bit, and I didn’t listen to my corner, who told me to slow it down. Performance wise, I give myself a C-plus, B-minus, because I know what I can do in there.”

Julian Gonzalez celebrates the first time he went eight rounds in his career (Photo by Stephanie Trapp/Showtime).

Spell worked well up and down, and snapped a good jab, as did Gonzalez, who was the aggressor. Spell began the second being more assertive. Each time Gonzalez (11-0-1, 9 KOs) tapped Spell caused a stir from the hometown crowd. That changed when Gonzalez cracked Spell with a :41 left in the second, and Gonzalez swarmed him as Spell tried finding his legs.

In the opening minute of the third, both fighters went at each other. Though Spell was making Gonzalez miss, the times he did land, Spell was rattled.

With 1:29 left in the third, Gonzalez banged Spell (8-1, 4 KOs) again with a big right, and Spell’s nose turned into a blood facet. Gradually, Gonzalez found his distance and there was nothing Spell could do to keep him off.

In the fourth, Spell tried to outbox Gonzalez, pecking away with the jab, and moved away when Gonzalez neared. It was Spell’s best round, but he still couldn’t hurt Gonzalez.

In the opening minute of the fifth, Spell was outboxing Gonzalez again, and it appeared Spell was inching closer in the fight. Spell worked the jab and appeared to get the slight better of Gonzalez in the sixth.

For the first time as a pro, Gonzalez entered the seventh round. Gonzalez picked up his activity, and again, closed the distance, entering his punch zone, and nailing the right.

By the eighth, it appeared Spell needed a knockout to win. Gonzalez stalked Spell and tapped him with the right. Spell did not show much urgency in the last round, even though it appeared he was down in the fight. Gonzalez seemed to close in safe shape.

A few minutes later, the judges confirmed it.

“I could have gone to the body a lot more, and I could have forced it a little more,” Gonzalez said. “It felt good (going eight rounds the first time). We picked it up a little in training camp and we can pick it up even more, so I can feel even more comfortable going eight.”

Somehow lightweight southpaw Estivan Falcao (13-2, 7 KOs) pulled out an eight-round unanimous victory over James Bernadin (10-2-1, 6 KOs) in a hard-fought back-and-forth affair in which Bernadin knocked down Falcao in the third. Bernadin seemed to land the harder punches and had Falcao in some trouble in the seventh. Yet, the judges saw it for Falcao.

Sharp-looking Reading middleweight Euri Cedeno (6-0, 6 KOs) upped his stoppage streak to six making easy work of Fabrizio Rubino (3-2, 1 KO), stopping him at 1:10 of the first round of a scheduled six-rounder. Philadelphia heavyweight Ali Ellis (4-0, 2 KOs) knocked down hometown heavyweight Francis Oran (4-1, 2 KOs) two times en route to a unanimous four-round victory. Bethlehem welterweight Thanjhae Teasley (8-0, 4 KOs) stopped Nathan Luyando (4-3, 2 KOs) at :56 of the third round of a scheduled four-rounder. Junior featherweight Ernie Cuevas (7-0, 5 KOs) started the night by winning a unanimous six-round decision over Eduardo de Oliveira Diogo (3-1-1, 2 KOs).

Joseph Santoliquito is an award-winning sportswriter who has been working for Ring Magazine/RingTV.com since October 1997 and is the president of the Boxing Writers Association of America.

Follow @JSantoliquito

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