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Layla McCarter and Diana Prazak squared off in the opening contest of tonight’s BKB event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, and the ladies did not disappoint.
It was the second event for “Big Knockout Boxing”, but the first time the women were featured with the lightweight title up for grabs; McCarter, a former world champion in multiple weight classes and multiple sanctioning bodies was taking her second contest since a two year layoff and Prazak, the current WBC super featherweight champion, was coming in off a loss to Delfine Persoon in a November contest for the WBC lightweight crown.
From the opening bell, in was obvious McCarter was the better skilled of the two. The former world champ scored well behind the jab, and used the limited space of the pit effectively, scoring and getting out of range before Prazak could return fire. Prazak played the role of the aggressor but without ropes, had no place to corner McCarter, who circled and scored repeatedly.
After dominating the contest and scoring knockdowns in the fourth and seventh rounds, McCarter scored a series of unanswered shots in the closing seconds of the seventh and final round, prompting referee Russell Mora, with just 10 second left, to stop the contest, crowning Layla McCarter the first BKB women’s lightweight champion.
Post fight, McCarter wasn’t shy about calling out all comers to face her in the pit, including MMA champ Ronda Rousey; “she wants to box, she says she can box, come to the pit” said the new champ, “you can’t box, this is my game, I box. You do MMA standup, that’s a different thing. You want to meet in the middle? Well I’m here in the pit, come and get it”.
As for Prazak, a lesser fighter would have caved, but not Diana. She pressed forward from start to finish, looking for the one big shot she needed to turn the fight around, never giving McCarter a moments rest. It just wasn’t her night.
Layla McCarters combined record now stands at 37-13-5, 9 KO’s, Prazaks combined record is now 13-4, 9 KO’s.