Saturday didn’t provide much insight into the boxing future of Mickey Bey beyond that it is likely to continue at least a bit longer. Bey, a one-time lightweight fringe contender, took apart Oscar Escandon for a third-round stoppage in the main event at the Newtown Sports & Events Center in Newtown, Pennsylvania.
Bey drew blood early, scored a knockdown of Escandon with a flurry in the second round, then put him away a round later, with referee Eric Dali calling the bout at 2 minutes, 3 seconds of the third.
“I just had a ball in there, like a kid in the candy store,” Bey said after the 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.”
The size of Bey’s plans figure to be limited to whatever scope can be expected of a 41-year-old fighter who has lost his past two outings competing at the world level – both of those coming more than five years ago, by the way.
Bey, 26-3-1 (14 KOs), a Cleveland native now training out of Philadelphia, has won three in a row – but all against opponents in no better position to push him than was Escandon, 27-10 (18 KOs), loser of his past five fights and nine of his past 11 starts. Bey spent nearly four years out of the ring after his last major fight of note, a split decision loss to George Kambosos Jnr at New York’s Madison Square Garden in December 2019.
On the undercard in Newtown, Russian junior lightweight Dariial Kuchmenov, 9-0 (7 KOs) took another step forward with a sixth-round stoppage of Mexico’s Diuhl Olguin, 17-45-7 (10 KOs).
David Garcia, 4-0 (3 KOs), a 16-year-old bantamweight prospect from Phoenix, made quick work of MMA fighter Marcelino Rangel, 1-2, in a first-round stoppage.
Welterweight Thanjhae Teasley, 13-0 (6 KOs), took a convincing six-round unanimous decision over veteran Nelson Morales, 6-23-1 (3 KOs), by scores of 60-54 from all three judges.
Bantamweight Jonathan Rodriguez, 18-3-1 (7 KOs) ended an 11-month hiatus by besting Colombia’s Jesus Martinez, 38-27-1 (16 KOs), over eight rounds for a unanimous decision win. The scores were 80-72, 80-72 and 79-73.
Additionally, Elijah “Macho” Gonzalez, 2-0 (2 KOs), an 18-year-old junior welterweight prospect, won by fourth-round stoppage while, in the opener, junior lightweight Rommel “Ro” Dunbar Jnr, 1-0, won his pro debut in a four-round unanimous decision.
