On a night where two prospects needed a win in a front of a national television audience on Showtime, Ronald Ellis and Junior Younan had to settle for a draw.
In what was considered an entertaining back-and-forth bout between the two unbeaten super middleweight prospects, the fight ended in a split draw (96-94, 95-95, 94-96), meaning both men do not get a 1 on the loss column, but their win column remained the same. The fight headlined a "ShoBox: The Next Generation" card from Iowa that saw several talented prospects in action.
The fight displayed both fighters' upside, with Younan showcasing his speed and Ellis displaying his power numerous times throughout the fight. Younan probably had his best round in the eighth, where he unleashed a flurry of punches that managed to stun Ellis numerous times. The fight was Ellis' fourth in the span of 12 months and it was Ellis' second draw in that span.
The co-main event also was an exciting fight between lightweight prospects Thomas Mattice and Rolando Chinea. Mattice struggled to get anything going against Chinea in the first few rounds, but Mattice found life in the fifth round with an overhead right. Mattice managed to turned around the fight completely in the seventh round when he hit Chinea with almost two dozen uninterrupted punches that prompted the referee to put a stop to the contest and award the victory to Mattice. With the win, Mattice improved to 11-0 (9 KO) and got his fifth straight win by stoppage.
In the opening bout of the televised portion of the card, Montana Love improved to 9-0 with a majority decision with over Samuel Teah.
