During a packed boxing weekend, one crazy moment overshadowed a slew of other in-ring knockouts. Leon Lawson, Jr., uncle of Andre Dirrell, who won the interim IBF super middleweight title by default from a disqualification, is now on the police radar. Lawson two-pieced Dirrells opponent Jose Uzcategui at the end of the 8th round which has now been classified as an assault in the District Court of Maryland for Prince Georges County.
According to BoxingScene.com, Sean Gibbons, who works with the Venezuelan fighter, filed the assault charges on Dirrells uncle. Showtimes cameras captured the chaotic and emotionally-driven scene as the co-main event pairing finished and referee Bill Clancy was disqualifying Uzcategui.
Dirrell was losing the matchup at the MGM Grand National Harbor handily, however, at the end of the third round, Uzcategui hit Dirrell after the bell flush with a hard punch. Referee Bill Clancy went to the corner and warned the Venezuelan to not hit his opponent after the bell but that warning was not fully heeded.
At the end of the 7th round as Dirrell was taking major punishment in the corner, the bell sounded a stop to the round but Uzcategui continued his onslaught. Dirrell caught the bitter ends of a three-piece combination to the grill, which dropped him flat on the canvas. The punches came after the bell, however, what came next was shocking, to say the least.
An unsuspecting Uzcategui stood in his neutral corner with his arms straddling the ropes when Lawson, Jr. came up and delivered a left hook to the jaw followed by a right cross to the neck. The first punch was actually better than any his nephew hurled the entire fight except that was during a sporting event; this was the commission of a felony.
Immediately, a melee ensued in the crowd in a section heavily populated with Dirrell supporters from Flint, Michigan, his hometown. In the fracas, brother Anthony “The Dog” Dirrell might have attacked a member of the Maryland State Athletic Commission and police were reviewing the footage to find out.
Lawson, Jr. exited the ring and disappeared in the immediate aftermath and is now a wanted man. Like the Chappelles Show skit When keeping it real goes wrong family love now has someone caught up in an assault that truly went viral. Uzcategui also plans to file an appeal at the IBF Convention to overturn the decision.
