It’s Showtime!
Hartford’s Mykquan Williams wins unanimous decision over Yeis Solano in premium cable network’s main event
Hartford’s Mykquan Williams won the most important fight of his young career, a unanimous decision over Yeis Gabriel Solano of Colombia at Mohegan Sun Arena on Wednesday night.
Williams, 22, a Prince Tech grad, was fighting on national TV for the first time, and could be one win away from a title shot in the 140-pound class. He outlasted Solano in the 10-round bout, two judges scoring it 96-93, the other 97-92, all in favor of Williams (16-0-1), who turned pro in 2016.
“Thejudgesdefinitelygot it right,” Williams said. “I thought I landed the bigger, sharper shots for sure. I let him do a little too much though. He was shooting that straight left a lot, but I was catching most of them. Hedidn’t land too much.”
Williams scored a knockdown in the eighth round. In the 10th, the fighters got tangled up and fell to the canvas and it was originally ruled a knockdown for Solano, but was later reversed, clinching the round for Williams.
The bout was the main event to open the 20th season of Showtime’s “ShoBox: The NewGeneration” series. There were no fans allowed in the arena. Williams had hoped to make his breakthrough in 2020, but all his fights were canceled due to the pandemic. OnWednesday, he was in the ring for the first time in 15 months.
“It was definitely important not to just get the win but to look good doing it,” Williams said. “I’ve been off for 15 months, and this is a big platform to fight on. It’s my first televised fight so I thought it was important to look good and showcase my skills. ... I would give myself a seven or eight out of 10. I could have done a lot more. The first couple rounds were good, but in the middle of the fight, I kind of let him back in. But I adjusted and picked it back up and got my second wind in the latter rounds.”