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HOPKINS WINS HOMECOMING Bernard Hopkins made a successful return to Philadelphia Wednesday night by pitching a near shutout over Enrique Ornelas at the Liacouras Center on the Temple University campus. The 12-round landslide was to have been a warm up for his better-late-than-never rematch with Roy Jones, slated for March. However that fight was upended earlier in the day when news came out of Australia that Jones had been shocked in his bout with Danny Green, who stopped him in the first round. Bernard put this bad news behind him and went out to keep his own legendary career on track. As usual, he accomplished what he set out to do. After a slow start, a rusty Hopkins loosened up by round five and began to roll. He kicked it into cruise control for the second half of the fight and easily racked up round after round. Throughout the bout, Hopkins speared the game Ornelas with sharp right hands. Enrique took the punches like a pro and stayed in there. He did rather well when the fight was waged on the inside. His uppercuts landed in the corners, but didn't seem to affect Hopkins. On the other hand, Hopkins' shots steadily wore down Ornelas, who tired down the stretch. In the 10th round, it appeared that Hopkins was ready to go for the KO, but he stuck to the script that has governed much of his career and took no unnecessary chances. Way ahead on the cards, Bernard resisted one more KO temptation in round twelve and coasted to the unanimous decision victory. The official cards all read wipe-out: 120-109, 119-109, 118-110. I saw it 118-110, giving Ornelas two early rounds. Hopkins raised his record to 50-5-1; Ornelas fell to 29-6. With his win and with Roy Jones' loss now in the books, Hopkins must figure out his next move. He's flirted with a jump to heavyweight now that cruiserweights Tomasz Adamek and David Haye have found some success there. So we'll see. Overall, it was a successful night. Although far from a sellout, the crowd of about 2,500-3,000 was the biggest Philadelphia boxing audience in quite a while.
Mike Perez, Newark, NJ, stopped Ron Boyd, DC, at 2:09 of round two in their scheduled six-round lightweight bout. Philadelphia's Karl Dargan took a six-round unanimous decision over Samuel Santana a junior welterweight fight. The scores were 60-53, 57-54, & 59-54. Lamont Barnes pulled an upset when he dropped undefeated Teneal Goyco in round one and went on to take the four-round decision by majority verdict (39-36, 38-37 & 37-37). Both cruiserweights are Philadelphians. Barnes evened his record at 3-3 (2 KO); Goyco, 3-1 (1 KO), lost for the first time. Welterweight Jessie Vargas, Las Vegas, opened the show around 6:00pm with a second round TKO of Travis Hartman, St. Joseph, MO. The time was 2:31. After Danny Garcia's quick KO, a four-round featherweight match was swung in to fill the time before the main event. Guadalupe De Leon, Texas, won a close split decision over Derrick Wilson, Florida, by scores of 39-37, 39-37, & 37-39. The fight was promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. Oscar De La Hoya was NOT in attendance, but Shane Mosley was. The fight was telecast live on the VERSUS cable network. |
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The
performance of the night belonged to Danny Garcia, a 14-0
junior welterweight from Philly. He took on an experienced
opponent in Mexican Enrique Colin, 23-4-3 (19 KO). Garcia
was also facing the ten-round distance for the first time.
But he shined right from the opening bell. Garcia dropped
his foe with a lightning-quick left-right combo near the end
of the first. Colin finished the round, but the end was
near. Almost a minute into the second, Garcia launched an
explosive right hand and Colin crashed to the canvas.
Referee Steve Smoger didn't bother to count. The end came at
55 seconds of the round. It was Danny's first Philly bout.
With the win, Garcia won the "WBC Youth Intercontinental
Junior Welterweight Title". But forget that. Who evens knows
what it is? The win was impressive however, and Garcia looks
like a very good prospect. He moves on with his 15-0 / 10 KO
record to bigger and better things.