On Wednesday night, a rare mid-week ShoBox event was broadcast on Showtime. The main event featured super welterweights Charles Conwell (13-0, 10 KOs) and Wendy Toussaint (12-1, 5 KOs) in a 10-round contest. Conwell is a 2016 U.S. Olympian, and the Showtime commentators advised before the fight that Toussaint is the primary sparring partner for light heavyweight heavy-hitter Joe Smith.

 

The first couple of rounds were competitive, but Conwell got the better of the action thanks to his superior defense, very good foot positioning, and educated inside game. He found Toussaint often with uppercuts, which the latter seemed surprised by. Toussaint, the taller, longer fighter, wasn’t able to keep Conwell off of him or keep him on the outside. So it became Conwell’s fight, which of course he’s better at.

 

Conwell displayed impressive skills throughout. It’s clear he and his head coach Roshawn Jones work on defense, inside work, and feet in the gym, and it showed up in the fight. In the corner, Jones told his fighter at one point to step it up because “you’re looking average.” It’s impressive, particularly with a young fighter on his way up, that he’s being encouraged to amp it up and do more than just win—plus, the ability to do that shows that Conwell has another gear.

 

Toussaint showed a lot of heart and good skill during the fight. It’s just that he wasn’t on the same level as Conwell. He wasn’t able to figure out how to not fight Conwell’s fight.

 

In the ninth, Conwell landed a beautiful right uppercut to Toussaint’s nose. Toussaint, his nose seemingly badly broken, dropped to his knee and was not able to make the count. The referee waved it off.

 

Earlier, welterweights Janelson Figueroa Bocachica (16-0, 11 KOs) and Nicklaus Flaz (9-2, 7 KOs) faced off in an 8-rounder. Flaz, who seemed to have trouble with his defensive awareness, got caught in the first with several clean hooks that dropped him. He made the count, but he took too much punishment and it was waved off.

 

knocked him back against the ropes. The referee ruled it a knockdown due to the ropes holding him up. Williams made the count and the fight continued.

 

Soon, Lee caught Williams again and dropped him. This time it was a serious knockdown and Williams’ legs were wobbly. The referee allowed the fight to continue, though it could have very well been stopped then—this wasn’t a high-stakes, championship level fight. Right away Lee knocked Williams down again, nearly unconscious, and part way through the ropes. He fell back onto the bottom rope, his head snapping back. Thankfully Williams was responsive and seemed okay as the doctor attended to him.