After what has certainly been a tumultuous summer, Brian Castano made a successful return to the ring.
The 154-pound title contender scored a fifth-round stoppage victory over Wale Omotoso in the main event of a PBC card that was televised on FS1. Castano outworked and dominated Omotoso throughout the fight, but Omotoso had to deal with an injured left shoulder he suffered in the middle of the fight. After the fifth round, Omotoso was unable to continue fighting and Castano was ruled the winner.
With the win, Castano sets himself up for a potential title fight in 2020. Castano was originally supposed to face Michel Soro in a rematch for Castano's WBA "Regular" junior middleweight title earlier this year, but after the fight fell through, the WBA stripped Castano of the belt.
Also on the card is Javier Fortuna moving one step closer towards another world title opportunity with a dominant win over Jesus Cuellar. Fortuna dropped Cuellar to the canvas in the first and second rounds, but after Cuellar got back up in the second round, the referee stopped the fight. The fight was recently sanctioned by the WBC as a title eliminator for the lightweight title being held by Devin Haney. The undefeated Haney will defend his title against Alfredo Santiago on November 9 on the undercard of the KSI vs. Logan Paul 2 card.
Below are the full results of the November 2 PBC card from the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland:
- Brian Castano defeated Wale Omotoso by TKO, round 5 to win the WBO Intercontinental junior middleweight title
- Javier Fortuna defeated Jesus Cuellar by TKO, round 2 to win the WBC Continental Americas lightweight title and become the mandatory challenger to the WBC lightweight world title being held by Devin Haney
- Gary Antuanne Russell defeated Juan Huertas by TKO, round 2
- Gary Antonio Russell defeated Samuel Gutierrez by TKO, round 1
- Ryan Karl defeated Bergman Aguilar by TKO, round 5
- Tyrek Irby defeated Joaquin Chavez by unanimous decision (78-72, 79-73, 79-73)
- Dravontay Speed Rawls defeated Wanzell Ellison by unanimous decision
- David Morrell defeated Quinton Rankin by KO, round 2
- Anthony Velazquez defeated Michael Crain by TKO, round 7
- Patrick Harris defeated Joaquim Carneiro by TKO, round 6
- Shyngyskhan Tazhibay defeated Nicolas Atilio Velazquez by unanimous decision
- Paul Kroll defeated Farhad Fatulla by TKO, round 4
