TACOMA, Wash. – Heavyweight Vincent Thompson remained undefeated with an 8-round unanimous decision over Masataka Takehara in the main event of Battle at the Boat 83 at the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma.
Establishing his jab early and often, Thompson improved to 9-0 with the victory over Takehara, the top-ranked heavyweight in Japan.
Thompson appeared as the 80-72 winner on all three judge’s scorecards.
To prepare for the bout Thompson spent the last week training in Moscow, Russia under the watch of Teddy Atlas, who conditioned Michael Moorer to the world heavyweight title in 1994.
Thompson spend time sparring with Alexander Provetkin (22-0), who defeated Ruslan Chagaev for the vacant WBA world heavyweight title on Aug. 27.
“It was an incredible experience getting to work with Teddy and sparring with Provetkin,” said Thompson, who at 235 pounds was five pounds lighter than Takehara. “All the training in Russia really paid off tonight. I felt really strong in there.”
Light welterweight Oscar Andrade also remained unbeaten, improving to 7-0 with a win over Michael Lucero (60-53, 59-54, 59-54).
Also on the undercard, cruiserweight Tommy Davis defeated Jose Rico by second-round KO, Randell Corpuz notched his first career victory by defeating Nalo Leal by unanimous decision in a battle of welterweights, super middleweight Mike Gavronski improved to 3-0 with a fourth-round KO of Darren Anzai and Aaron Schupp and Edgar Zubia fought to a draw in a clash of light welterweights.
Professional boxing returns to the Emerald Queen Casino on Nov. 5 with Battle at the Boat 84.
