by Keith Idec
PHILADELPHIA – Manuel Gallegos modified his life Saturday night time.
The Mexican veteran, who was an enormous underdog, dropped closely favored American gentle heavyweight contender Khalil Coe 4 instances and upset him by ninth-round technical knockout on the Jaron Ennis-Karen Chukhadzhian undercard at Wells Fargo Heart. Coe went down from a left to the physique in the course of the fifth spherical, once more from an accumulation of punches late within the seventh spherical, but once more early within the eighth spherical after taking a number of extra photographs and for the final time as quickly because the ninth spherical started, when it was clear Coe couldn’t proceed.
Coe crumpled in his nook as quickly as an aggressive Gallegos hit him initially of the ninth spherical. Referee Eric Dali stopped the motion eight seconds into the ninth spherical.
The 28-year-old Coe, of Jersey Metropolis, New Jersey, appeared extra fatigued than damage by Gallegos punches. Conditioning has been a difficulty at instances in the course of the adorned newbie’s profession, which seemingly price Coe (9-1-1, 7 KOs) in a battle FanDuel sportsbook listed him as a 24-1 favourite to win.
Gallegos (21-2-1, 18 KOs), of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, fought for the primary time since tremendous middleweight contender Diego Pacheco (22-0, 18 KOs) stopped him within the fourth spherical of their July 2023 battle in Monterrey, Mexico.
Within the bout earlier than Coe’s loss, middleweight Austin “Ammo” Williams stopped Gian Garrido within the fifth spherical of their scheduled 10-rounder.
Williams gained convincingly in his first battle since unbeaten British contender Hamzah Sheeraz beat him by 11th-round technical knockout June 1 at Kingdom Enviornment in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Milwaukee’s Williams (17-1, 12 KOs) landed the more durable punches all through his bout with Garrido (11-2, 8 KOs), of Queens, New York, till Dock stepped between them to stop Garrido from taking pointless punishment in opposition to the sturdy southpaw at 1:04 of the fifth spherical.
