Guerrero, Porter Stay Unbeaten With Fourth-Round KOs

Southpaw Fernando Guerrero of Salisbury, MD., remained unbeaten with a fourth-round knockout over Baltimore's Jessie Nicklow in Friday night's Showtime-televised clash of middleweights (160 pounds) at the Grand Casino in Hinckley, Minn.

A winner of three of five amateur matchups against Nicklow (19-2-2, seven KOs), the 23-year-old Guerrero (17-0, 14 knockouts) drove home a number of left and right uppercuts that had his rival's nose bleeding by the end of the third round.

In the fourth, Guerrero dropped the 22-year-old Nicklow with a hard, counter-left hook that sent him falling to his right and into the ropes.

Nicklow rose, but the wobbly fighter was simply absorbing too much punishment, leading referee Mark Nelson to step in and put his arms around him to shield him from further harm.

The end came at 2:09 of the fourth.

An orthodox fighter who switched to southpaw, on occasion, Nicklow had risen from junior middleweight (154 pounds) to face Guerrero, having suffered his lone defeat during a November 2008, rematch with George Rivera.

Nicklow was in only his second straight, 10-rounder, and was coming off of June's majority decision draw with southpaw John Mackey (11-4-2, five).

Guerrero was also in only his second 10-rounder, having been floored in his last fight -- October's majority decision over Ossie Duran (23-8-2, nine) for the NABO title.

Guerrero-Nicklow was the main event of a Lou Dibella-promoted card that featured five unbeaten boxers whose records, combined, was 52-0, with 34 knockouts, coming in.

In a scheduled eight-round clash of junior middleweights, 22-year-old, Shawn Porter (12-0), of Akron, Ohio, scored his 10th knockout in the fourth round shortly after dropping 27-year-old Jamar Patterson (8-1, four KOs) of Utica, NY, straight to his back with a hard, leaping left hook.

Patterson rose to his feet, and, with referee Celestino Ruiz directly behind him, walked to a neutral corner and twice was asked if he was okay.

Patterson indicated that he could continue, but Porter jumped right back on top of him, staggering him with two more, crisp left hooks before Ruiz stepped in to end it at 1:54 of the round.

Porter was among the chief sparring partners for WBO welterweight (147 pounds) champion, Manny Pacquiao, during the latter's preparation for last month's 12th-round knockout of Miguel Cotto.

Patterson, who was cut over his right eye, ended a 16-month layoff, and had fought just once in the previous 39 months.

In victory, Guerrero and Porter, respectively, will next compete in ESPN-televised bouts on Feb. 19 from Cleveland, Ohio, against southpaw Jesus Gonzalez (24-1, 13) of Phoenix, Ariz., and Cuban-born southpaw Damian Frias (16-2, seven) of Miami.

Also on Friday night, Philadelphia's 27-year-old Lanard Lane (10-0) twice dropped his man with first-round, right hands on the way to a second-round knockout -- the seventh of his career -- over 22-year-old London-born Morrocan Said El Harrack (8-1, three KOs) of Henderson, Nev., in their welterweight matchup.

Down for the first time in his career, El Harrack was being pummeled by a number of unanswered blows when Nelson stepped in and cradled El Harrack to signal the end to the bout at 1:38 of the second round.

The fight-ending sequence began with a right hand from Lane.