OAKLAND, Calif. — Genesis Servania has quickly earned a reputation as a guaranteed entertainer during his brief exposure in the United States.
The Filipino fireplug from Bacolod City, Philippines stood toe-to-toe with fellow former world title challenger Carlos Carlson, with both men daring the other to blink. In the end it was Carlson who couldn’t keep up with the pace, heading to the canvas for the count at 44 seconds of Round 3, earning Servania the knockout win in his second appearance on American soil.
The final punch was an overhand right from Servania (32-1, 15 knockouts), sending Carlson (23-5, 14 KOs) to all fours. Carlson rose up at the count of 10, bringing an end to the fight at Oracle Arena.
“I wasn’t thinking of the knockout; only to give the fans a good fight,” said Servania.
Servania picked right up where he left off the last time American fans had seen him in his entertaining fight with WBO featherweight titleholder Oscar Valdez. Both Servania and Carlson threw hard and landed hard in the opening round. Servania knocked Carlson off balance in the second with a left hook, and followed it with an uppercut.
Servania, 27, had been based in the Philippines until leaving Cebu City’s ALA Gym for the Kashimi Gym of Kanazawa, Japan. He has now won three straight since the competitive Valdez loss in September of 2017, and is likely to face WBO junior featherweight champ Isaac Dogboe next year, says promoter Bob Arum.
Dogboe (20-0, 14 KOs) has been the sport’s breakout star of 2018 with three impressive knockouts of Cesar Juarez, Jessie Magdaleno and Hidenori Otake so far this year, with another title defense set for December 8 at Madison Square Garden.
Manager Naoyuki Kashimi says Servania is game to face anyone, as long as they have a belt. It’s a sentiment echoed by Servania, who wouldn’t mind getting another crack at Valdez when he returns from a broken jaw sustained in his last fight against Scott Quigg.
“Anybody,” Servania said with a chuckle.
The win was special for Servania because it took place on the homecourt of his favorite NBA player, Kevin Durant. Servania plays basketball in a recreational league in Japan during his spare time.
Undercard
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Janibek Alimkhanuly pitched a shutout over Carlos Galvan (16-8-1, 15 knockouts) in the show’s opener, outclassing the experienced boxer from Colorado by scores go 60-54 on all three cards. Alimkhanuly (3-0, 1 KO) is trained by Buddy McGirt and had won gold medals at the 2013 AIBA World Championships and 2013 Asian Championships.
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Askhat Ualikhanov had a much tougher time in the second fight of the night, surviving a determined challenge from Texas’ Angel Hernandez. Despite possessing a hit-or-miss record, Hernandez showed he wasn’t there for a vacation as he brought the fight from bell-to-bell, landing uppercuts between the southpaw’s guard whenever Ualikhanov remained stationary. Ualikhanov relied on his ring generalship, throwing left hands and rolling out to pile up points. The scores were 59-55 on one card, and 58-56 on the other two, all for Ualikhanov.
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Both Kazakh boxers are managed by Egis Klimas, who also handles the careers of elite boxing talents Vasiliy Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk and Sergey Kovalev.
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Former WBA bantamweight titleholder Rico Ramos (30-5, 14 KOs) continued his low-profile return to relevance with a unanimous decision victory over the competent Daniel Olea (13-6-2, 5 KOs). Ramos scored a knockdown in the first round, following a lead left hook with a left uppercut near the bell. The fight leveled out from that point and Olea, a resilient fighter from Mexico who had only been stopped once previously, began to find his openings against the Watts, California-based Ramos.