COSTA MESA – Malcolm McAllister opened the 2015 season of Fight Club OC in short, quick fashion.
McAllister, who is from Long Beach and the up-and-coming JackRabbit Boxing, stopped Dave Courchaine at 1:43 of the opening round with a vicious right to the body in front of a crowd of 1,506 Thursday night at The Hangar at the OC Fair and Events Center.
Courchaine dropped to the canvas and never recovered.
“I wanted to work that double jab, try to blind him a little bit and shoot that right hand straight in,” McAllister said.
That was the path McAllister took for the first knockdown in the round.
“The jab got his attention and the right hand put him down,” McAllister said. “I didn’t think he was done, but I was staying cautious. The jab set everything up. When I jabbed him up top, then I went down (to the body).”
McAllister, 24, made the turn to boxing when he was 9, after watching a Mike Tyson fight. Now, he’s out to make the name Jackrabbit synonymous with boxing, as well as football.
“My 10th birthday was coming up and my mom asked me what I wanted to do and I said take me to the gym,” he said. “Ever since then, it has been nothing but love.”
McAllister is looking for a busy 2015. He said he wants up to 10 fights. He won his professional debut last December by second-round knockout.
“We’re going to let them know that Long Beach is known for boxing too,” he said. “I’m in the gym 24-7, boxing is my life. I’m like a gym junkie.”
On the undercard, Stanton’s Dwain Victorian (5-3) thrilled the crowd with a second-round knockout victory of Luis Mora.
2012 U.S. Olympian Michael Hunter improved his record to 7-0 with a unanimous-decision victory over Avery Gibson in an eight-round fight.
The judges’ scores were 80-73, 79-73 and 77-75.
Also, Gustavo Lopez (1-2-1) picked up his first professional victory with a unanimous-decision victory over Gabe Lopez (3-1) of Santa Ana.
Ruslan Madiyev (3-1), who is trained by Abel Sanchez, also had a short night of work, stopping Cesar Martinez in the first round.
Trevor Clapper (Fullerton) and Anthony Hernandez were victorious in two of the MMA fights.
