Amir Mansour © fightnews.com

Amir “Hard Core” Mansour (15-0, 11 KOs) proved he’s for real after hammering out a ten-round unanimous decision over one-time contender Dominick “Southern Disaster” Guinn (33-8-1, 22 KOs) at Dover Downs Hotel & Casino on Friday night. Guinn absorbed some hellacious shots throughout the bout, and Mansour showed the boisterous Rollins Center crowd that he can box as well as slug. Mansour came close to shutting Guinn out with scores of 100-90 (twice) and 99-91 to take the interim NABO title. In the co-feature, Edgar “The Kid” Santana (26-3, 17 KOs) scored a come-from-behind knockout over upset-minded Omri Lowther (14-4), stopping him at 1:43 of the fifth round to win the NABA light welterweight title.

Amir Mansour is now a bona-fide heavyweight contender after he landed bombs that would have stopped most fighters in every round against iron chinned Dominick Guinn. In the opening round, Mansour exchanged with Guinn on the ropes and nailed Dominick with a series of clean right hooks from his southpaw stance. Guinn took the shots well, but he fought a defensive fight after that. Guinn caught Amir with two lead rights ear the end of the round. Mansour drilled Guinn with a double right hook early in round three, and then a massive hook a minute later. On the inside, Guinn landed a left uppercut, but Mansour countered with another double hook that landed flush. Mansour continued to apply intense pressure in the fourth, as he shifted his attack to the body. Guinn was clearly in survival mode at this point.

In the fifth round, Mansour landed a right hook to the body, followed by another to the head. Guinn landed a right uppercut, but Mansour followed a fast four-punch combination with another huge right hook to the head. There were whispers of amazement at the quality of Guinn’s chin.

Mansour opened round six with another hook, followed by a lightning fast three-punch combination. In the seventh, Mansour began landing his straight left hand down the pipe.

Rounds eight and nine were all Mansour. Guinn landed a nice left hook early in the eighth, and Mansour landed a double right hook – straight left – right hook combo to open the ninth. He closed the round with two hard lefts. Mansour landed a straight left – double right hook combination to start the final round. Guinn followed with two hard lead right hands. Guinn and Mansour then traded bombs for the final minute of the bout. Mansour was elated with the win, and for proving he could box for ten hard rounds. The longest he had ever gone was four rounds, and that was back in 1998. Mansour celebrated by dancing and bouncing around the ring as if to show his fans that he still had spring left in his legs.

“I was prepared to go ten hard rounds,” said Mansour. “I saw after the fourth or fifth round, after I caught him with some real good shots that would have put a lot of other guys to sleep, that he wasn’t going anywhere, so I just started boxing him.

“I want to fight someone in the top-ten. I would love to fight Tony Thompson. He would never be able survive those shots I hit this guy with. [Eddie] Chambers is also a formidable opponent. We are both fast and a little slick,” he continued.

“I would like to thank Dover Downs for allowing me to live my dream. I will continue giving the fans what they want by continuing to fight guys who have a chance of beating me.”

Santana takes NABA crown
In the co-feature, Edgar Santana dropped Omri Lowther, and stopped him at 1:43 of the fifth round of the scheduled ten-round bout to win the vacant NABA light welterweight title. Omri Lowther came out for round one dancing and darting in and out, and Santana promptly dropped him with his first punch of the fight. It was a flash knockdown from a right hand, but Lowther got down to business after that. It was a 10-8 opening round for Santana, but Lowther clearly won the remainder of the round. He pinned Santana on the ropes in round two, and landed a variety of punches against his seemingly lethargic opponent.

Rounds three and four saw Lowther continuously beating Santana to the punch. The crowd sensed an upset in the making, but Santana would occasionally counter with a left hook to the head, or fire it to the body. You could tell from the sound that Santana’s punches carried more power, and you had to wonder what would happen when he landed clean.

Santana answered that question in round five. Lowther continued to box and move, and landed overhand rights, an uppercut, and a left hook. After Lowther went to the body with a right hand, Santana landed a spectacular left hook that dropped Lowther hard. Lowther made it up, and even nodded to his corner that he was all right. Santana chased Lowther across the ring and into a corner. World-class referee Gary Rosato saw something in Lowther that he didn’t like, and rushed in to stop the bout before Santana could inflict any more damage. There was a mild protest from the Lowther camp, and some boos from the crowd about the stoppage, but Santana’s power saved the day.