Mickey Bey (26-3-1, 14 KOs) is back, and he is better than ever.
The 41-year-old looked strong and confident as he dominated former world champion Oscar Escandon (27-10, 18 KOs) in their lightweight showdown and defeated him by third-round TKO from the Newtown Sports & Events Center in Newtown, Pennsylvania, on Danny Garcia’s Swift Promotions presented “The Future Is Now: Series II” on Saturday night.
Bey’s beatdown of Escandon was steady and destructive. It began with a left hook, which hurt his opponent. However, the 40-year-old Escandon would stay on his feet, but that was not the case in Rounds 2 and 3. The aggressive Bey used his power and accuracy to drop Escandon in both rounds, and referee Eric Dali halted the action at 2:03 in Round 3.
The Cleveland, Ohio native, who last fought in May 2024, says he has some big things coming.
“I just had a ball in there like a kid in the candy store,” said Bey, post-fight. “I didn’t want to rush it. I knew he was looking to land something big, so I put the work in, in the gym. I knew what I was doing with my brain, but I just let my body do what I trained for. I’m older now, that’s why I’m the ‘Time Machine.’ I probably have a handful of fights left. I’m here for a good time, not a long time. We have some big plans after this.”
In his prime, Bey, who is now working with Danny Garcia’s Swift Promotions, was a talented fighter, and last night, he didn’t fight like a 41-year-old man. He lost time due to managerial and promotional issues, but life is full of second chances, and let’s hope Bey can take advantage of this opportunity.
“King David” reigns in Newton:
Sixteen-year-old “King” David Garcia (4-0, 3 KOs) can’t legally drive, but he can certainly fight and dominate grown men.
Garcia, who made his U.S. debut on Saturday night, had an easy night at the office as he defeated MMA fighter Marcelino Rangel (1-2) by first-round knockout in their showdown in the bantamweight division.
Photo: David Algranati/The Fight Photos
The Phoenix, Arizona native, a four-time national champion as an amateur, trapped his opponent in the corner and refused to let him out. Rangel crumbled to the ground, and the referee had seen enough and stopped the fight at 2:53 of the opening frame.
After the win, Garcia talked about the knockout.
“I wasn’t really looking for it, but it just came,” said Garcia of the knockout. “I felt like the time was right. He was moving around a lot, so I had to cut the ring off and land some power shots. I felt the time was right to trap him in the corner and demolish him.”
The future is indeed promising for young, ‘King David.’ With his impressive performance, he has set the stage for bigger things to come.
In other action:
Hard-hitting 22-year-old Russian super featherweight prospect Dariial Kuchmenov (9-0, 7 KOs) showed off a formidable variety of offensive tools while stopping normally durable Mexican journeyman Diuhl “Elegante” Olguin (17-45-7, 10 KOs) at the end of the sixth round.
Now fighting out of Los Angeles via Nalchik, Russia, the 5’ 10” Kuchmenov towered over Olguin and proceeded to unload a furious arsenal of power punches and virtually ignore any return fire until his Mexican Californian opponent signaled he had suffered enough.
The official time was 3:00 of round six and all three judges had Kuchmenov winning by a shutout 60-54 at the time of the stoppage.
Rising welterweight prospect Thanjhae Teasley (13-0, 6 KOs) continued his ascension with a clear six-round unanimous decision over 30-fight veteran Nelson Morales.
26-year-old Teasley looked sharp against his former sparring partner Morales, banging him with wilting left hooks to the body and strong combinations to the head throughout the action. The iron-chinned Morales, stopped just two times against a long list of top competitors in his career, was able to survive the onslaught and offered moderate resistance.
At the end of the action, the scores were academic at 60-54 by all three judges.
Formerly world-ranked bantamweight Jonathan Rodriguez (18-3-1, 7 KOs) shook off the rust from 11 months of inactivity and got back in the win column with a unanimous eight-round decision over durable Colombian veteran Jesus Martinez (38-27-1, 16 KOs).
Rodriguez got in eight workmanlike rounds of work from the well-traveled Martinez, but the outcome was never in doubt. Upping the pace in the last round, Rodriguez was able to briefly hurt Martinez in a standout round eight for him.
The scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73.
Promising 18-year-old super lightweight prospect Elijah “Macho” Gonzalez (2-0, 2 KOs) scored an entertaining fourth-round knockout over Codi Chavez (0-2).
In against an offensively gifted and younger foe, the game, but outgunned, Chavez was already bleeding from the nose by the end of round one and was dropped twice in round four. The first knockdown came from a perfect Gonzalez left hook and the finishing blow was a flush right to the jaw, which prompted Referee Shawn Clark to wave it off at 1:31 of round four.
To open the night’s action, former amateur standout Rommel “Ro” Dunbar Jr. (1-0) made a successful professional debut at super featherweight by taking a dominant four-round unanimous decision over Denzel Bowlding (0-6). A three-time state champion before turning pro, Dunbar stayed busy throughout, working especially well to Bowlding’s body against the ropes.
