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NAKASH TAKES BRUNELLI; Israeli bomber Ran Nakash defeated a gutsy Dave Brunelli in Friday night's Blue Horizon main event promoted as "Israel vs. Italy" by matchmaker Don Elbaum. A smaller than usual crowd cheered wildly for their particular rooting interest, be it Israel, Italy, or as the majority of the crowd reminded everyone, the USA. Nakash steamrolled to his 18th straight victory in as many bouts, in this, his ninth appearance at the North Philly venue. The out-of-towner, who has made the Blue Horizon a second home, methodically broke down Brunelli over the course of the scheduled 8-rounder. Many thought this fight would be a quick one, but Nakash had to work for his TKO over the tough and determined local.
In the evening's opening bout, Taneal Goyco beat Davit Davitashvili in a 4-round cruiserweight prelim that stole the show. The pair brawled it out all the way to the end and had the crowd in a frenzy. Goyco's jabs and strong uppercuts led him to victory, but Davitashvili helped his opponent with an intentional head butt in the first round that cost him a point. The fight was a real barn-burner, and all three judges saw it 39-36 for Goyco.
Approximately 900 fans came out to watch the show, including boxers Riddick Bowe, Simon Carr, Tony Ferrante, and Blue Horizon staple Tex Cobb. |
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Brunelli
appeared to be out-gunned in the early going. It was his
first foray in the cruiserweight division and the newly
weight-reduced former heavyweight boxer looked dry and thin
- especially across his back. As the bout began, Brunelli
just did not look like a good physical match for the
imposing Israeli, despite a solid advantage in height. The
bulldog visitor plowed his way in using a thudding jab and
some clumsy but dangerous rights. But Dave weathered
Nakash's slow and steady forward pace and hard arching
punches. He fired back himself, and although he was able to
land some shots, he couldn't come close to hurting Nakash.
But he kept throwing, and he did his best to keep his
defense strong. Brunelli kept the heel of his right glove
pressed to his chin like he had a toothache. And every time
he exchanged with Nakash, and allowed this defensive shell
to open up, you could see Brunelli suddenly remember his gym
lessons and quickly resume the toothache position. It served
him well for quite a long time. 
However
as the fight wore on, Brunelli sustained a collection of
cuts and bruises on his face that revealed to everyone
watching how hard and how effectively Nakash was punching.
The blood started in round two after a sharp right-left made
Brunelli's nose start streaming. It would do so for the
remainder of the bout. In the third, Brunelli was cut under
his right eye. More of the same followed in rounds four and
five, as the lumps and cuts and nicks continued to rise on
Brunelli's face. All the while, he was wearing down
physically too. But through it all, Brunelli's heart and
grit were showing even more obviously. He kept trying to
press forward and stop Nakash's steamrolling with his own
combinations - which he kept firing, but Nakash was stronger
and he just kept coming. Brunelli proved how tough he was.
He worked and fought hard all the way, trying as hard as he
possibly could to turn the fight around, or at least survive
the eight round distance. It just seemed like a lost cause. 
But
then in round six, Nakash started showing some signs of
fatigue. Perhaps at 206 pounds, he wasn't in the best shape.
On the other side, Brunelli who had been taking a beating
and losing blood and vision, was in excellent condition,
perhaps due to his new, lower weight (200.5 pounds). Dave
seemed looser and more relaxed, and must have felt that he
was finally getting somewhere. As Ran slowed down a notch,
Dave picked up steam and had a good sixth round, even
winning it. 
Brunelli
picked things up in the seventh, but Nakash looked refreshed
and he resumed his bull rushes. About one minute into the
round, with Brunelli's cuts freely leaking again, referee
Gary Rosato stepped in and led the battered Brunelli to his
own corner where he asked the ringside doctor to have a
look. On the doctor's advice, Rosato stopped the bout at
1:18, much to Brunelli's disappointment. I doubt that Dave
thought he had a chance of winning the bout at that point -
either by the cards or by somehow stopping the imposing
strongman he was in against. No, he just wanted to keep
fighting. He didn't want to be stopped. But his performance
was no embarrassment. Brunelli dealt with a ton of pressure
and showed a toughness that few could match. It was a gritty
Philly performance that lowered his record to 8-5, but won
him many new fans - not just the Italians. 
For
Nakash his 18th win was a solid showing, although most had
expected him to win it fast. But he pretty much did what he
wanted in the ring and came away with another KO - his 14th.
When asked if he thought he could have finished Brunelli,
even if the doctor hadn't intervened, Nakash said, "Probably
not. He's a tough guy, and probably would have stayed in
there until the end". 
In
the semi-windup, Julius Edmonds hustled for six full rounds,
outworking a worn out Tyric Robinson in every session to win
a lopsided decision. Two of the judges gave him every round
(60-54), while the third had it 58-56, or 4-2 in rounds.
There was no doubt that Edmonds had controlled the action.
Robinson, now 9-4-1, had to settle for landing some clean
shots on his hard-charging foe, but it was far too little to
sway any opinion his way. The loss was his third in four
fights, and raises some questions of his ring future. For
Edmonds, now 5-3, it was his third straight win, and an
impressive one. He just kept moving forward and kept
working. 
7-0
southpaw, Julio Cesar Matthews, won his cruiserweight
fight against William Gill by 6-round unanimous decision.
Matthews had little trouble with the 30-fight vet. His only
setback was when Gill raised a mouse under Matthews' right
eye in the 6th and final round. The scores were one-sided,
60-54, 59-55, and 58-56 all for Matthews, who now looks
forward to his upcoming main event at the South Philly Arena
against Kamarah Pasley on May 8th. Gill's record dropped to
9-22. 
It
looked like featherweight Joselito Collado would have an
easy time with Jason Rorie after one round's worth of work.
But the well-conditioned Rorie, a dead-ringer for Ike
Williams, made Collado work for his unanimous 6-round
decision. Every time Collado hurt Rorie, "little Ike" would
battle back hard. Rorie, 2-3-1, didn't have the skills to
upset the 7-0 Collado, but might have been able to do so had
he been better schooled in the basics of boxing. 
In
the only stoppage other than the main event, Paul Fernandez
accomplished the task against Joseph Francisco with three
seconds to spare in their 4-round jr. lightweight fight.
Fernandez dropped Francisco in the third and fourth rounds,
and referee Rosato stepped in to halt the action at 2:57. 
Undefeated
Bethlehem, PA welterweight, Ronald Cruz, went to 4-0 with a
four-round unanimous decision over Ohio's Shannon Hill. Cruz
felt the pressure in round one, when he suffered a large
slash around his hairline and had to peer through his own
streaming blood to finish the round. He did so without
incident and his corner stopped the bleeding between rounds.
He wasn't bothered by it again during the fight and posted
an official win by the judges scores of 40-36, 40-36, and
39-37. Shannon's record evened to 1-1. 
