Full Recap - Hometown Heroes and Heartbreak: AKA Fights 47 Brings Boxing & Fireworks to Shreveport

On a sweltering July night in Shreveport, Louisiana, Sam’s Town Casino became the hub of Louisiana boxing pride as AKA Fights 47 delivered an action-packed card filled with grit, and drama. National prospects like Shamar “The Boss” Canal kept their perfect records intact, it was the hometown names—Blake Franklin, Waylon Bailey, and Blake LaCaze—who gave fans a rollercoaster of emotions. With local fighters stepping into the ring and beloved ring announcer Dynamite setting the tone.

The main event of the night saw Top Rank Boxing signee Shamar Canal move his undefeated record to 12-0 with a close 10 round decision win over a very tough Bryan Jimenez (17-2). It was a hotly contested 10 round battle, likely more than Canal expected out of the 28-year-old.

At the end of the bout the scorecards read 98-91,96-93 and  95-94 all in favor of Shamar “The Boss” Canal who also captured the vacant WBC International Lightweight championship with the victory.

It was good to see our friend Tommy Ashy who was the WBC representative for this event.

Sergio Mauricio Gil (22-15-2) will take the NABA championship back home to Argentina as he spoiled the night of the hometown favorite Blake “Trouble” Franklin (17-14-2) of Shreveport, LA. 

Gil was took the fight in short notice against Franklin but he was ready for battle. Using a smooth left jab and powerful right hands Gil controlled the bout. Franklin was down twice in the contest but was hurt multiple times throughout the contest. 

To his credit Franklin never backed down from trading shots, he did land several check hooks but could not keep Gil off of him. 

Gil landed a thudding right hand that put Franklin down for the 10 count at the 27 second mark of the 10th and final round. 

Blake Franklin announced his retirement following the bout. Credit to Franklin who came out of retirement 9 months ago and won 5 straight bouts to earn this title shot. 

“He landed a good shot in the first round and I never recovered” said Franklin during the post fight interview.

Hard handed welterweight Taras Shelestyuk moved to 20-0-1  with a brutal 2nd round knockout of 42 year old Roddricus Livsey (12-5-1) of Atlanta, GA. After a 1st round that mostly consisted of both fighters feeling each other out, round 2 ended with a Shelestyuk right hand directly  to the jaw of Livsey. There was no 10 count as the official saw Livsey clearly down and out at 1:42 of the round

Shelestyuk, who is 39 years old is originally from Ukraine now lives in Los Angeles, CA. Keep an eye on his career as his advanced age will force his team to move him quick!

Kevin “2nd Coming” Newman (18-3) who is signed with Roy Jones won his 6th straight bout via 7th round TKO over Malcom Jones (17-6-1). Newman likely won every round on the judge’s scorecards. The 33-year-old Newman looked like a solid boxer but lacked anything special and he was not in the ring with A-level competition. In a loaded super-middleweight division, it will be hard for Newman to gain the limelight.

Super lightweight prospect Kamauriay "King Cam" Walker (6-0) of Miami Gardens, FL looked super impressive as he dominated a very game Angel Reyes (3-5-1) of Iowa. Walker landed at will and had Reyes down in rounds 2 and 4. Reyes’ corner had seen enough and ended the bout after round 4. Walker invested to the body of Reyes early, it slowed down Reyes and took a lot of the fight out of him.

Walker does have some maturing to do as he played around a good bit and acted like a fool at times leaving himself unprotected. Walker took some unnecessary shots due to this action.

In heavyweight action; much hyped unbeaten heavyweight Waylon Bailey (8-0) from Alexandria , LA won a lack luster and fouled filled 4 round bout against veteran heavyweight Ronny Hale (5-21-1) -- who decided to wear basketball shorts and leggings -- via split decision. Both fighters had points taken away during the bout; Bailey for hitting during a break, Hale for pushing. Hale was knocked down at the end of round 1 from a short right hand from Bailey that was the deciding factor. The rest of the bout was dominated by clinching and Bailey's corner screaming ridiculous instructions to their boxing.

Scorecards read - 37-36 and 39-34 Bailey, the other judge saw it 39-38 for Hale.

The lack of amateur boxing experience showed from Bailey as he encountered some heavy adversity facing the veteran Hale. Bailey was never in danger in the bout but Hale made him work way too hard for this victory. Bailey's team is moving his career along at a snail's pace for a reason. Blake LaZacze (7-15-2)  of Monroe, LA has already made short work of Robert Hill (3-9) via second round TKO. Hill did not have much to offer as LaCaze dominated from the opening Bell.  This was the 1st win for LaCaze since 2021, a timespan that included 6 bouts

A once highly touted armature super lightweight Pryce Parrow (4-2) of Kentucky made easy work of Michael Land (1-9-1) of Dallas, Texas. As the name said... Land was looking for a soft spot to land after getting blasted by a hook the the body in the opening round.

In an interesting battle of 1-0 super middleweights… Tim Amerson of Russellville, Arkansas and Steve Jones, a popular Texas MMA fighter with no boxing experience go to battle. Both fighters were hungry for a win despite being limited in the boxing ring. At the end the scorecards saw 40-36, 39-37, 39-37 all for Steve Jones (2-0)

Carlos “The Gladiator” Torres (5-4) of Corpus Christi got back into the win column  with a second round stoppage of Daniel McCall (0-7) who hails from Jake “The Snake” Roberts hometown. The bout ended at 1:25 of round 2

Opening bout of the night saw super lightweight Clarence Booker of Covington, GA  (1-1)  get the first win of his career via 4^th round TKO over Andrew Toppin (0-4) of Gretna, LA. Multiple point deductions in this opener

AKA Fights 47 proved provided a showcase for local talent. From Blake Franklin’s courageous farewell to Waylon Bailey’s hard-fought victory and Blake LaCaze’s long-awaited return to the win column, the night gave Shreveport fans plenty to cheer. As the dust settles and the fighters return to their corners of Louisiana, one thing is clear: the Bayou State’s boxing is ready for whatever comes next.