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Light middleweight Kerry Hope made his US debut Thursday night at the Nokia Center in LA on a Golden Boy show, facing the tough veteran Daniel Stanislavjevic, better know locally as Danny Zee.
Stanislavjevic has already shared the ring with a number of top opponents including James McGirt Jr, Josiah Judah, Alfredo Angulo, Aaron Pryor Jr, Marco Antonio Rubio, Tarvis Simms, Fernando Zuniga and Danny Perez, all of who he pushed to the limit, and was very unlucky not to get the decisions in many of these fights.
He also scored a recent fourth knockout over title challenger Saul Roman.
Hope was coming off a loss to British and Commonwealth champion Matthew Hall and a no decision to Taz Jones after a clash of heads ended the contest prematurely, so he was desperate to get back to winning ways.
Since his split with former trainer Enzo Calzaghe, Hope had been training in Lake Arrowhead, California, with John Tandy from Talon Boxing.
Hope and Stanislavjevic squared off in the center of the ring, and as expected, Stanislavjevic came out firing, loading up with some big shots, a few of which got through, surprising Hope a little.
Hope reacted well and started to work behind a stiff southpaw jab and fast combinations. It was a tight first round, as both men landed good shots.
As the fight went on, Hope’s better fitness and ring craft allowed him to take over and he was landing the cleaner more accurate shots throughout.
A headbutt caused a cut above Hope’s left eye in the fifth round, while Danny Zee was also cut on the forehead. A further clash of heades in the same round saw Hope’s cut open further and blood began to pour down his face, but the fight was allowed to continue.
Hope’s corner did a good job of patching up the cut during rounds and stopped the flow of blood for the final frame, in which Hope again boxed well for the majority but Danny came back strong in the final 30 seconds, desperate to try and get Hope out of there, landing some big shots.
The judges scored the contest 57-56, 57-56 and a more accurate 59-54, all for the winner, Kerry Hope.
