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EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR |
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CHAMBERS; ABELL GETS COAL |
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In an absolutely sizzling main event at the Blue Horizon on Friday night (12/01), "Showtime" Steve Upsher Chambers was awarded an 8-round unanimous decision over Lenny DeVictoria in one of the best local fights of the year. DeVictoria pressed the action all the way and seemed to outwork the winner in every round. He threw punches constantly, even when he began to tire midway through the fight. Although he landed a lot, DeVictoria was never able to significantly hurt Chambers, who blocked and counter-punched all night. But Chambers is a sleeping dog that you have to be careful with, and he proved it by cracking Lenny with many of his own hard shots. DeVictoria was never close to going down, but he felt Chamber's power and seemed to go limp at times when he got hit. |
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As the action went back and forth, and I felt DeVictoria was building and ever-so-slight lead on the scorecards, Lenny's face started to show serious signs of battle - nicks, bruises, swelling. Clearly Chambers was getting to him. The fight was deadlocked after four rounds. In the second half of the fight, the war waged on with the same pattern - DeVictoria played the aggressor while Chambers kept sneaking in his furious spurts of action. They battled in every corner and along the ropes on all sides of the ring. The center of the ring was used only for instructions and glove tapping. There were no major shifts in momentum, just one long sustained exchange. The medium-sized crowd (maybe 800) unanimously approved with their cheering and customary foot-stomping. It really was an excellent fight. The scoring was all for Chambers. All three judges scored 78-74, that's 4-2-2 in rounds. I had it 77-75 for DeVictoria, or 5-3 in rounds. It wasn't the worst decision I've seen, but if the judges had gotten off the fence in two of the rounds, the bout probably would have been called a draw. The semi-windup caused quite a stir as the Blue Horizon's newest adopted son, Joey Abell, tasted defeat for the very first time after nine straight KOs. His opponent Aaron Lyons of Gulfport, MS shocked the crowd by 1) lasting more than a minute, and 2) trapping the heavily favored Abell in a corner and landing enough shots to force a stoppage in round one. The time was 1:17. The referee's decision seemed a bit premature, and incited a near riot among the Abell fans. Fun! Three other bouts rounded out the five-fight card. Note: This was the last Philly fight of the year, as next week's show at the National Guard Armory has been cancelled. UNDERCARD BOUTS:
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