Melissa Odessa Parker Defends IBO Bantamweight Title; Giovanni Marquez Scores Second Round Stoppage; Andreas Katzourakis Stays Undefeated
NEW YORK – Split-T Management fighters shined in Houston by picking up three wins in as many fights on Friday night at the Bayou Event Center.
Melissa Odessa Parker remained undefeated and made the first defense of her IBO Bantamweight title with a 10-round unanimous decision over Mikenna Tansley.
Parker of nearby Spring, Texas, won by scores 97-93 and 96-94 twice, is now 6-0. Tansley of Alberta, Canada is 5-1.
Giovanni Marquez went to 2-0 as he scored his first stoppage by taking out 53-fight veteran Ariel Vazquez in round two of their four-round welterweight fight.
Marquez dropped Vazquez in round one, and finished him off at 2:52 of round two.
“That feels good,” Giovanni said to Jose De Jesus Ortiz of Our Esquina of the TKO. “There were already critics saying, ‘Does he have power?’ So I showed improvement from my first fight. Now I got my second fight, got the stoppage.
“I’m steadily improving. I’m a student of the game and I’m looking to get better and better each fight.”
Marquez, 21 years-old of Houston, Texas began boxing at the age of 12 as he is the son of former U.S. Olympian, world junior middleweight world champion and current broadcaster Raul Marquez.
Marquez had an amateur record of 75-12, which culminated in winning the National Golden Glove tournament this past August in Tulsa, Oklahoma. He was named the Most Outstanding boxer in the tournament.
Marquez, who won the 152-pound National Golden Gloves, will begin his pro career around 145-pounds, with the goal to campaign as a junior welterweight.
Andreas Katzourakis returned to the ring and remained undefeated with a six-round unanimous decision over Isiah Jones in a middleweight bout.
Katzourakis Los Angeles via Athens, Greece dominated Jones throughout the contest, and won by scores of 60-54 twice and 59-55 to raise his unblemished mark to 7-0. Jones of Detroit is 9-6.
