jbyrd@vicksburgpost.com

A stunning outcome in the final fight of the “Gloves Up, Guns Down” boxing card Saturday night saw Atlanta’s Darrell Boone upset Louis “Knock” Turner of Chicago by majority decision in a middleweight bout.

Boone’s win left many at ringside stunned, including the card’s promoter.

“That was messed up. My guy (Turner) didn’t lose a round,” said promoter James Dixon, a former Vicksburg resident and long-time boxer and trainer.

Dixon was visibly upset by the decision that handed Turner (12-3) his third straight loss, the second straight on a controversial decision. Dixon lost the North American Boxing Council world title to Anthony Greenidge of Atlanta last August in a similar fashion.

No scorecards were announced from the judges. Boone’s name was called and his hand raised as the winner by majority decision.

“I’ve got to do something about this,” added Dixon, who like Turner and Robinson, is from Chicago.

Boone, a quick and durable veteran, improved his record to 15-10.

“I just kept moving forward. I think my confidence won the fight,” Boone said. “I was able to roll off a lot of his shots and keep moving. I also showed I can take a punch.”

Turner, meanwhile, was devastated by the loss.

“They said a majority decision, say what? Did they give him the first seven rounds?” Turner asked. “I really felt that this was the best I’ve ever boxed. I was pretty down after the Greenidge fight but I came back and trained really hard for this one. Seven weeks, all training.

“I really hurt him in the ninth round with a right hand. I went in to finish it, but he held me. In the 10th, he either held or kept running away,” Turner said.

Turner seemed to take control of the fight in the second round when he backed Boone into the corner. Three of the first five rounds were even and Boone may have done enough to win the sixth.

The seventh round saw Turner get the better of an exchange on a right followed by a left cross. In the ninth, Turner landed the best punch of the fight with a right hand that staggered Boone, but he couldn’t finish it off.

In the co-main event, Nigeria’s Ijeoma Egbunine handed former world middleweight champion Leatitia Robinson her first professional loss with an impressive eight-round unanimous decision.

While Boone’s decision came with controversy, Egbunine’s did not. The Nigerian entered the fight as the No. 1 contender in the world in the WBC and WIBA and was coming off an impressive win over former champ Lisa Ested in a super middleweight bout last August.

The 5-foot-10, 170-pound Egbunine showed a quick jab and kept Robinson bottled up. This was the first fight in two years for Robinson, who has battled injuries, and the ring rust showed.

Egbunine’s decision, though still a mild upset, was not a surprise considering that her reach and constant jab frustrated Robinson.

Robinson slipped most of Egbunine’s power punches, but couldn’t do enough scoring of her own. Egbunine’s jab and a good right in the fifth were enough for her to win at least four rounds.

“She’s a very good boxer, but when she wanted to box I bulled into her and when she tried to bull me, I boxed,” Egbunine said. “This was a wonderful win. I took this fight on short notice. I had just four weeks to prepare. But I was very disciplined. I tried to win each round and keep on top of her. She couldn’t come back on me.”

Egbunine improved to 16-2 with the win, while Robinson fell to 15-1. Robinson, who owned four world title belts as a middleweight, suffered her first loss in nearly eight years.

Next up for Egbunine is a rematch with Ested on June 28 in Germany for the WBC Intercontinental title.

In other fights, Pancho Moncivais, of Laurel, won his pro debut by knocking out Ricardo Clayton of Meridian in 34 seconds.

Thomas Dar Dar of Golden Meadow came back from a second-round knockdown to beat Miguel Alfaro in a majority decision, winning on two cards 38-37.

Gundrick King of Laurel defeated Antonio Adams of Tuscaloosa with a first-round technical knockout.