"As Cold As Ice Water” Foster Survives Chaos,

Outboxes Ford To Retain WBC Crown In Houston!

By: David Colon

Saturday, May 30, Fertitta Center, Houston, Texas: Headlining an Eddie Hearn-Matchroom Boxing card streamed live on DAZN, Houston's own O'Shaquie "Ice Water" Foster successfully retained his WBC World Super Featherweight Championship with a hard-fought, tactical twelve-round majority decision victory over arch-rival Raymond "Savage" Ford of Camden, New Jersey.

The opening round began as a cautious, tactical battle before erupting into one of the wildest moments of the evening. Both fighters came out sharp, with the hometown champion Foster, a southpaw, pressing the action behind crisp jabs and well-placed body shots, while Ford answered with quick counters and straight left hands.

As the round neared its conclusion, the two became tangled in a clinch near the ropes. In a sudden moment of physicality and frustration, Foster appeared to launch Ford through the ropes, sending the challenger awkwardly onto the ring apron and nearly to the arena floor.

Ford quickly regained his footing, dusted himself off, and climbed back into the ring. Referee Jon Schorle ruled the incident a foul but elected not to deduct a point, allowing the contest to continue following a brief pause.

The dramatic sequence energized the Houston crowd, and Foster carried that momentum into the ensuing rounds. What initially looked like it might develop into an all-out war gradually evolved into a high-level chess match. Working behind a disciplined defense, Foster controlled the distance, landed the cleaner combinations, and connected with the more meaningful punches down the stretch.

After twelve competitive rounds, Foster was awarded a majority decision by scores of 118-110, 116-112, and 114-114, successfully retaining his WBC title.

Following the victory, Foster immediately called out WBO and Ring Magazine lightweight champion Shakur Stevenson, leading to a heated ringside face-off that generated considerable buzz about a potential future showdown.

With the win, Foster improves to 25-3, 12Ko’s while Ford suffers just the second defeat of his professional career, falling to 18-2-1, 8Ko’s.

In the scheduled ten round featherweight co-feature, Atlanta, Georgia’s, Javon “Pop” Woodard Jr. scored the upset of the evening stopping Spring, Texas, Miguel “El Michoacano” Flores in eight rounds.

The bout started fast and stayed intense with “Pop” stealing the show with a dominant performance, dropping the tough veteran Flores three time, once in round two and twice in round eight, first overwhelming Flores devastating series of clean power shots and again with straight right hands and left hooks for a referee Jon Schorle full count at 2:31 of round eight. Woodard Jr. on a five bout KO run moves to now 17-2, 15Ko’s. Flores four bout win streak comes to a close at 29-6-1, 13Ko’s.

Brisbane, California, lightweight, Charlie Sheehy continued his climb with a ninth-round TKO over Barranquilla, Colombia, late-replacement, Nike Theran.

The unbeaten, Sheehy, a sharp technician with power, working the fill-in Theran up and down, systematically broke the durable Columbian backing him to the ropes for a sharp, clean straight right hand forcing referee Raul Caiz Jr. to step in and the bout at 1:51 of round nine. This victory pushed Sheehy to 13-0, 8Ko’s as Theran 2-3 in his last five bouts falls to 20-3, 14Ko’s.  

In a battle of unbeaten super welterweights, Orlando, Florida, 23-year-old, 2024 Paris Olympic Bronze Medalist, Omari “Banger” Jones retained his unblemished record with an eight-round shutout unanimous decision win over Des Moines, Iowa’s, Diego Zuniga.

Jones dominated Zuniga from the opening bell, using his length, sharp jab and superior timing to control the tempo and prevent Zuniga from finding any sustained rhythm. Despite occasional moments of resistance, Zuniga was unable to turn the contest into the physical, competitive fight he needed as the rounds progressed.

Jones consistently controlled the real-estate and working behind a disciplined jab and straight punches, forcing Zuniga to repeatedly reset and winning the majority of the exchanges at mid-range. By the middle and late rounds, “Banger’s” superior speed, accuracy and ring generalship increasingly apparent, would show on the scorecards announced 80-71 times three all for Jones.

The victory was consistent with the trajectory of Jones’ early professional career. A highly accomplished amateur and Olympic medalist before turning professional in 2025, Jones entered the fight with an unblemished record and an impressive knockout percentage. His performance against Zuniga further reinforced his reputation as one of the sport’s most promising young talents. Jones advances to 7-0, 4Ko’s while Zuniga with his first loss slips to 9-1, 6Ko’s.

Las Vegas, 18-year-old, Julian Montalvo delivered a controlled, professional performance stopping Albuquerque, New Mexico’s, Maximus Moya in the fourth round of their scheduled six-round super featherweight bout.

The boxer / puncher, Montalvo boxed with steady intent from the opening bell, invested in the body, and gradually forced Moya into a defensive shell as the rounds progressed. The young prospect showed more than raw finishing ability with a patient pro styled measured pressure attack working clean, sharp combinations matriculating the punishment steadily putting Moya in retreat with accurate heavy, clean shots finally forcing referee Dorian Borowski to step in and stop it at 2:16 of round four.

Montalvo headed toward tougher competition moves to 7-0, 5Ko’s. Moya winless in his last four drops to 3-4, 2Ko’s.

In six round middleweight action, Sacramento, California, Frank Espinoza stayed perfect retiring Houston, Texas, Bryce Blackwell after three rounds.

The former two-time amateur national champion, Espinoza came out aggressively from the opening bell, establishing his power early and forcing Blackwell into a defensive posture. Punching in bunches, working the body effectively, consistently landing the harder, sharper shots, Blackwell showed toughness and tried to counter, but unable match the 20-year-old, Californian’s, elevated pace, pressure, or punch quality, the cumulative effect of Espinoza's assault became increasingly apparent throughout the first three rounds leaving Blackwell visibly hurt and exhausted seated in his corner unable to answer the bell sounding round four. Espinoza advances to 4-0, 4Ko’s as Blackwell on a three-bout skid falls to 4-3, 2Ko’s.

Hempstead, Texas, super middleweight prospect, Jahyden Franklin Britton stayed undefeated with a fourth round TKO stoppage of Davenport, Iowa, Najee “I’m Him” West.

The 21-year-old, Britton came out aggressively from the opening bell, establishing his jab and immediately pressuring West into a defensive posture. Working the body effectively, punching in crisp combinations, consistently landing the harder, cleaner shots throughout the first three rounds.

The 32-year-old, West showed toughness and tried to counter, but could not match the young Texan’s pace, volume, or punch quality, and the cumulative effect of Britton's assault became increasingly apparent as the rounds progressed.

By round four, Britton in complete control, backed West to the ropes for a punishing volley of undefended power shots forcing referee Dorian Borowski to step in and stop the scheduled six rounder at 2:58 of round four. Britton, improves to 9–0, 6Ko’s as West stopped in back-to-back bouts falls to 9-3, 4Ko’s.