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Bodysnatching a Victory
McCallum paces Friday Night Fights card
NEW ORLEANS -- WBA Jr. Middleweight Mike McCallum, his tournament's #1 seed, won a dynamic first round victory over Sean Mannion, knocking him out in the fourth round.
McCallum dominated the bout, getting and staying inside on Mannion who had nowhere to go to escape McCallum's short punches and lethal body attack.
Mannion went down three times in the fourth, the last for good, in a textbook exhibition by McCallum, who barely broke a sweat.
"I had a plan and I carried it out," McCallum said after the bout. "Simple as that, really."
In the co-feature, WBC Heavyweight Jimmy Ellis (#4) won a unanimous decision victory over Kirk Johnson (#13). Johnson seemed listless throughout, which enabled Ellis to be methodical rather than aggressive, winning in clear but unspectacular fashion (98-92, 98-90, 98-90). Johnson was dropped in the fifth and again in the 10th.
Elsewhere on the card, S.T. Gordon (#11) upset Luis Andres Pineda (#6) in a WBC Cruiserweight bout. Also in the WBC, Ben Tackie (#7) took a unanimous decision over Terry Marsh (#10) at Jr. Welterweight, and Eloy Rojas (#8) won a unanimous decision over Johnny Tapia (#9) in a WBC Featherweight affair.
Kicking off the IBF Jr. Bantamweight tournament, #1 seed Alexander Munoz stopped Masaki Kawabata (#16) via TKO in the 10th.
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