Pryce Taylor won a war of attrition Saturday, as he is now starting to show his potential as a heavyweight.
Taylor picked up a second-round technical knockout of Calvin Barnett at the Gateway Center Arena in College Park, Georgia. The time of the stoppage was 2:59.
In the opening round, both fighters got rocked. It was a right hand by Taylor, a 29-year-old from Brooklyn, New York, that initially dazed Barnett. But Barnett answered by landing a looping punch that caught Taylor’s attention, breaking up the monotony of the opening stanza.
Taylor targeted Barnett’s body in the second round. That decision changed the fight. Taylor sent Barnett to the canvas during the round, though it was ruled a slip. Taylor continued to go to the gut, and although Barnett refused to go down, he was in obvious pain.
The finish came as Taylor continued to hammer away at Barnett’s midsection, knocking him down with a flurry of punches at the end of the round. Barnett beat the count, but his discomfort was plain to see and his corner stopped the bout.
Taylor improved to 12-0 (8 KOs) and is on a two-fight knockout streak. Barnett, a 34-year-old from Port Orange, Florida, fell to 7-5 (4 KOs) and sat on his stool for a prolonged period after the fight.
Women’s junior featherweight Ashleyann Lozada won a unanimous decision over former titleholder Debora Dionicius. The scores were 80-70, 79-71 and 80-70.
Lozada, of San Juan, Puerto Rico, dropped Dionicius with an overhand left hand in Round 2. Lozada sent the 38-year-old Dionicius to the canvas again at the end of the round, following a right uppercut with a right hook to Dionicius’ chin.
Lozada developed a cut over her right eye at the end of the third, but she remained aggressive throughout the fight. Although she displayed fast hands and twice dropped Dionicius, of Villaguay, Entre Rios, Argentina, Lozada was unable to stop the proud former titlist.
The 34-year-old Lozada, who in 2024 became the first woman to represent Puerto Rico in the Olympics, improved to 4-0 (1 KO) as a pro. Dionicius, a former IBF junior bantamweight titleholder who held the belt from 2012-2018, fell to 36-8 (7 KOs).
In the opening bout, super middleweight Casey Dixon won a unanimous decision over Matthew Nore. The scores were 58-56, 58-56 and 59-55
Dixon, a 28-year-old from Atlanta, improved to 7-0 (5 KOs), while Nore – a 26-year-old from Newburgh, New York, who was flabbergasted that he hadn’t won the fight – saw his record fall to 2-1 (1 KO).
The bout was elevated to the main card after the original main event, an IBF featherweight title fight between titleholder Angelo Leo and Ra’eese Aleem, was removed from the card when Aleem didn’t make weight.
Lucas Ketelle is the author of “Inside the Ropes of Boxing,” a guide for young fighters, a writer for BoxingScene and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. Find him on X at @BigDogLukie.
