Elijah Garcia Registered 1st Round TKO
Kingsley “The Black Lion” Ibeh (17-3-1, 15 KOs) dominated last night’s pro boxing card, presented by Whitfield Haydon in association with Toro Promotions, Inc., at The Celebrity Theater in Phoenix, Arizona.
Born in Nigeria and fighting out of Phoenix, Ibeh threw-down with fellow Arizona heavyweight Dante “The Inferno” Stone (21-3, 13 KOs) in the aptly called main event, “King of the West,” to determine the top heavyweight boxer based west of the Mississippi River.
Ibeh, a former college and Canadian pro football player, stopped Stone in the eighth round, successfully defending his World Boxing Council (WBC) FECARBOX) title belt, in addition to capturing the vacant World boxing Association (WBA) Continental Americas and Arizona State championships. Stone had never been knocked out in 23 pro fights.
Ibe, whose cousin is the infamous former heavyweight boxer Ike Ibeabuchi, gained fame this past January at Madison Square Garden, in which he lost an impressive 10-round split decision to world-rated Jarrell Miller (26-1-2).
“The goal was to beat him at his own game,’ Ibeh said after the fight, “which we did. All respect to Stone but he was just in the way and a stone we need to move out. This means bigger opportunities. I want ‘DDD’ (‘Dynamite’ Daniel Dubois) next!”
Stone’s previous fight was last October in the championship final of the WBC Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia, when his 21-fight win streak was snapped by Kevin Cristopher Ramirez via a 6-round split decision.
In the co-featured event, local star Elijan Garcia (18-2, 14 KOs) needed little time to take care of super middleweight Ryan Adams (12-12-1, 7 KOs), quickly closing the show in the opening round. Garcia’s pro record includes a major victory against WBC World Middleweight challenger and 2012 USA Olympian, Terrell Gausha (24-4-1) in 2025 by way of a 10-round split decision last year. A former WBC Latino middleweight champion, Garcia was a 2017 U.S. National Championships gold medalist, who turned pro in Mexico at the age of 16.
Adams was coming off an eighth-round split decision victory over Yoanki Urrujia (17-1) last October in Miami.
Three other heavyweight matches featuring Arizona fighters were on the undercard: Adam “All American” Stewart (17-1-1, 10 KOs) knocked out Desmond Thompson (9-3, 8 KOs) in round two, Trevor “Titan” Kotara (5-5-1, 12 KOs) took out Jalen Davis (1-6, 1 KO), and in a battle of pro debut fighters Angel Lainez won a 4-round unanimous decision over Javier Arroyo (0-1).
Promising Armenian prospect Narek Hovhannisyan rolled to his fifth straight win without a loss, out-classing 76-fight Mexican veteran Dayryus Cotton enroute to a 6-round unanimous decision.
Undefeated Phoenix featherweight Brayan “Pow’ Gonzalez continued his hot streak with a technical knockout of Carlos Mujica (9-10, 2 KOs) in the second round.
In other undercard matches, unbeaten Mexican light heavyweight Sergio Leon Rodriguez improved to 13-0-1 (9 KOs) with a third-round disqualification win against Antonio Louis Hernandez (7-25-4, 4 KOs), while Erick Munguia (3-0, 2 KOs) took a 4-round unanimous decision from pro-debuting Patrick Quick (0-1) in a battle of Arizona lightweights.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
MAIN EVENT – WBC FECARBOX, VACANT WBA CONTINENTAL & VACANT
ARIZONA STATE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS
Kingsley Ibeh (17-3-1, 15 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
WKO8
Dante Stone (21-3, 13 KOs), Chandler, AZ
(Ibeh retains WBC FECARBOX title, wins WBA Continental & Arizona State title)
CO-FEATURE – SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHTS
Elijah Garcia (18-2, 14 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
WTKO1
Ryan Adams (12-12-1, 7 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
HEAVYWEIGHTS
Adam Stewart (17-1-1, 10 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
WKO2
Desmond Thompson (9-3, 8 KOs), Pembroke, NC
Trevor Kotara (5-5-1, 2 KOs), Gilbert, AZ
WTKO1
Jalen Davis (1-6, 1 KO), West Sacramento, CA
Angel Lainez (1-0, 0 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
WDEC 4 (40-36, 40-36, 39-37)
Javier Arroyo (0-1, 0 KOs), Highland, CA
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS
Sergio Leon Riodriguez (13-0-1, 9 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
WDQ3
Antonio Louis Hernandez (7-25-4, 4 KOs), Kansas city, MO
WELTERWEIGHTS
Rahman Muhammad (2-0, 2 KOs), Las Vegas, NV
WDEC4 (40-36, 40-36, 40-36)
Dayryus Cotton (0-1), Saint Louis, MO
LIGHTWEIGHTS
Erick Munguia (2-0, 2 KOs), Scottsdale, AZ
WDEC4 (39-36, 39-36, 38-37)
Patrick Quick (0-0, 0 KOs), Surprise, AZ
JUNIOR LIGHTWEIGHTS
Narek Hovhannisyan (5-0, 3 KOs), Los Angeles, CA
WDEC6 (60-54, 59-53, 59-53)
Diuhl Olguin (18-51-7, 10 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
FEATHERWEIGHTS
Brayan Gonzalez (6-0, 5 KOs), Phoenix, AZ
WDEC4 (39-36, 39-36, 38-37)
Carlos Mujica (9-10, 3 KOs), Las Vegas, NV
