ALBANY, N.Y. — Karim Mayfield floored Raymond Serrano at the fourth-round bell, and then landed a solid right hand less than a minute into the fifth that stopped the challenger in the NABO junior welterweight title fight Friday night.

Mayfield and Serrano both swung at the bell of the fourth round, but Mayfield’s punch landed, sending Serrano (18-1) to the canvas. Serrano eventually returned to his corner, wobbling and recovering barely enough to go out for the fifth

“I stayed composed,” Mayfield said. “My corner told me that was a shot that was going to be hard to recover from. A minute’s time wasn’t long enough time to recover from a shot like that. In my mind I was thinking, I don’t want to let this opportunity go where I could’ve gotten him out of there, but didn’t.”

Mayfield (16-0-2 10 KOs) came out with a flurry in the fifth, and referee Eddie Claudio stopped it with Serrano staggering 47 seconds in.

“He fought a good fight,” Serrano said. “He caught me with a good shot. I’ll be back.”

Mayfield, listed shorter by an inch and crouching to make himself shorter, effectively ducked under many of Serrano’s punches in the first three rounds. Mayfield sent Serrano down in the third with a right counter and two more punches.

“I’m only 5-7, maybe even giving myself two inches,” Mayfield said. “When you got a guy that’s shorter than you and a guy goes down lower, it’s a little timid, because you don’t want to be reaching down to jab. Coming up with that coiling style is very intimidating, because you have to reach down, and I’m actually reaching up while you’re reaching down. I knew I could make opportunities from that.”

Serrano was game, especially starting out.

“I was surprised how easy it was for me to hit him,” Serrano said. “He’s strong.”

“He’s a pit bull,” Mayfield said.

But Mayfield crouched and kept his distance in the opening two rounds and was able to counter in the third. He nearly ended it with his right hand at the bell to end the fourth.

“Honestly, I was hoping he was a little timid — but he wasn’t,” Mayfield said. “I caught him with a great shot that put him down. That normally should’ve put a lot of guys out. He shouldn’t have gotten up from that, because I caught him flush.”

In the junior middleweight undercard, Kevin Rooney Jr. lost for the second time, beaten by late replacement Anthony Jones in a four-round decision. The southpaw Jones, who also fought and won four rounds nine days ago, came out aggressively and barely let up. Jones knocked Rooney down twice — in the first round and solidly with a straight left in the second. Rooney landed two good rights in the third round, including an overhand right, but it wasn’t enough. Rooney falls to 4-2.

 
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press

http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7948132/karim-mayfield-stops-raymond-serrano-5th-keep-nabo-title

SAN FRANCISCO  – On May 18, undefeated NABO light welterweight champion, Karim “Hard Hitta” Mayfield (15-0-1, 9 KOs), headlines ESPN2 “Friday Night Fights” when he defends his title against Philadelphia’s Raymond Serrano (18-0, 8 KOs) at the Exhibition Hall at The Times Union Center in Albany, New York. Joe DeGuardia’s Star Boxing in association with Prize Fight Promotions will promote the 10-round bout.

Mayfield, a San Francisco native, is no stranger to fighting on the east coast. Recently, he was in Philadelphia sparring with Danny Garcia in preparation for Garcia’s fight with Erik Morales. On October 1, 2011, Mayfield dominated Patrick Lopez (20-5, 12 KOs) winning a unanimous decision to capture the vacant WBO NABO light welterweight title.

“I’ve been in the ring with Manny Pacquiao, Antonio Margarito, Robert Guerrero and many other world class fighters,” Mayfield said. “I know I got the talent to become a world champion.  I’m in great shape and I’m always ready to go in case a fight comes up.  I’ve been in the gym working hard and my timing is on point.”

“Virgil Hunter, who’s one of the best trainers in the world, will be working my corner. He’s guided me to victory before and I know together, we’ll come up with a masterful game plan.”

“This is a big opportunity for Karim to show the world he’s an elite fighter,” said Prize Fight promoter Brian Young. “This will be the first time Mayfield headlines a nationally televised main event and we believe he has all the talent to become a world champion.  If he’s victorious, we want to push for a title shot by the end of the year.”

This is a big opportunity for Serrano, who is seeking his first regional title.  He’ll be fighting close to his hometown of Philadelphia where he’s fought most of his career.

“Serrano is a tough guy with a good record and I’ll be going into his backyard for this fight,” Mayfield said. “But I’m on a mission to get that world title shot and I’m not going to let anyone stop me.  I’m just going to keep winning and let my management and promotional teams do their jobs.  I’m taking on all comers but my focus right now is strictly on Serrano. I’ts an honor to be fighting as the main-event on ESPN.  It’s my time to shine.”

 

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