Frank Sanchez pitches shutout against Christian Hammer
Frank Sanchez’s victory over Christian Hammer was thorough but forgettable Saturday.
The Cuban heavyweight contender, fighting on the Luis Ortiz-Charles Martin pay-per-view card in Hollywood, Florida, easily outboxed Hammer to win a shutout decision.
All three judges had the same score: 100-89, which reflected Sanchez’s dominance and a knockdown in the 10th and final round.
Hammer (26-9, 16 KOs) took the fight on less than a week’s notice after Sanchez’s original opponent, Carlos Negron, tested positive for the coronavirus.
The veteran from Germany didn’t roll over but he also didn’t throw many punches, landing only a few shots per round against an excellent defensive fighter.
Meanwhile, Sanchez (20-0, 13 KOs) landed some power punches — including some punishing blows to the body — but he was content to outbox Hammer, doing enough to win and not taking unnecessary risks.
In preliminary bouts, Ali Eren Demirezen (15-1, 12 KOs) stopped Gerald Washington (20-5-1, 13 KOs) 27 seconds into the eighth round. Washington, 39, has now lost five of his last seven fights.
And Jonathan Rice (15-6-1, 10 KOs) defeated Michael Coffie (12-2, 9 KOs) by a unanimous decision in their 10-round rematch. The scores were 99-91, 97-93 and 97-93. Rice had upset Coffie by a fifth-round knockout in July.
