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PHILLY FIGHTERS
CLOSE OUT 2010 ON THE ROAD
The good news is that a number of Philadelphia boxers are
slated to fight over the next few weeks. The bad news is,
given the dormant state of our fight scene, they all had to
hit the road to squeeze in a fight before the end of the
year. How Philadelphia boxing is currently in hibernation is
a topic for another day. Today we profile each of our road
warriors and their upcoming bouts.
LAJUAN SIMON
Friday, December 3, 2010
Dover Downs - Dover, DE
TV: None
Philadelphia's forgotten man, Lajuan Simon closes out his
year in a 12-round main event versus Dionisio Miranda
(20-6-2 / 18 KO) for the Vacant WBC Continental Americas
Middleweight Title. Simon (23-2-2 / 12 KO) has been our
unsung hero of late. Last year he travelled to Europe for a
world title bout and a world title elimination fight. He's
won regional belts and fought all over the place - just six
of his starts have been in Philadelphia - but he gets so
little press. It's a real crime (PBH is guilty too) because
Simon is a class act who fights at a very high level. Here's
hoping he wins big tonight and has a great 2011 - with
everyone watching.
Note: Also on the Dover Downs card are Zeferino Albino
(3-11-2), Gustavo Dailey (4-9), & Rachel Clark (5-4).
UPDATE: Dionisio Miranda defeated
Lajuan Simon by 12-round split decision. Other results: Dan
Biddle W4 (U) Zeferino Albino; Ryan Belasco W6 (U) Gustavo
Dailey; Rachel Clark W4 (U) Michelle Garland.
ERIC HUNTER
Friday, December 3, 2010
Chumash Casino - Santa Ynez, CA
TV: Showtime, 11PM
Philly's biggest enigma of the moment, Eric Hunter returns
to the ring tonight in a nationally televised opportunity
against Luis Franco (7-0 / 5 KO) in a ten-round fight for
the Vacant WBO NABO Featherweight Title. If you ask all of
the gym rats and old timers around the local scene, most
will name Hunter as the best talent in the city. But we
never see him! An Olympic alternate in 2004, lauded amateur
and once-defeated pro, Hunter (15-1 / 8 KO) has plenty of
skill, but his lack of activity and career movement over the
past five years have brought boxing fans more head
scratching than applause. 2010 has been an unusually busy
year for "Outlaw"- this is his 5th bout. So perhaps at age
24, he's finally decided to make his move. But he faces an
experienced Cuban with an exceptional amateur background.
It's great that the bout is televised tonight. We can all
watch and see if Hunter is the next one to watch.
UPDATE: Luis Franco WDQ8 Eric Hunter.
Franco was ahead on the scorecards when the fight was
stopped for repeated low blows by Hunter.
RAYMOND SERRANO
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Bally's - Atlantic City, NJ
TV: HBO Latino
North Philly's undefeated welterweight Raymond Serrano (13-0
/ 6 KO) takes on Geoffrey Spruiell (8-9 / 2 KO) in an
eight-rounder under the Shamone Alvarez vs. Ayi Bruce fight
main event. Away fights are commonplace for Serrano who has
only fought in Philadelphia twice (granted Atlantic City is
really a Philly Boxing suburb). An interesting note is that
Serrano already has a six round decision win over
main-eventer Ayi Bruce earlier this year, but yet finds
himself in a preliminary bout. Not to worry. Serrano looks
like a riser with a nice future, and at age 21 should not be
in a rush. He gets a shot to look good tonight against a
shop-worn foe.
UPDATE: Raymond Serrano scored a 5th
round KO over Geoffrey Spruiell. The time was 0:27 of round
five.
 GABRIEL
ROSADO
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
TV: PPV
LIVE: Tickets still available and the drive from Philly
isn't bad at all.
Junior middleweight Rosado climbs back into the ring after
his July classic against Derek Ennis for the USBA belt. Gaby
lost the bout but looked good in the process and pleased the
crowd that night. He has sat frustrated and inactive for
more than four months waiting for another fight. He's
finally got one in Newark this Thursday, under the 12-round
heavyweight contest between Tomasz Adamek and Vinny
Maddalone. Rosado's opponent is Jose "Stinger" Medina (12-8
/ 5 KO) of New Hampshire via Mexico. Against Medina in the
scheduled eight-rounder, Rosado should be able to fight off
any rust, get the taste of that last (close) loss out of his
mouth, and work on a couple of nagging style holes. This
fight is a warm up for 2011.
UPDATE: Gabriel Rosado won an
eight-round unanimous decision over Jose Medina by scores of
79-72, 78-73 & 80-72. The victory raised his record to 15-5
(8 KO).
BRYANT JENNINGS
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
TV: None (Off-PPV TV Bout)
The 4-0 (2 KO) Bryant Jennings steps out of Philly for the
first time in his career. Only a pro since last February,
Jennings faces a debuting Randy Smith in a four-round
preliminary bout on the Adamek-Maddalone card. Under the
tutelage of old Philly salt Fred Jenkins, Bryant Jennings
showed some real promise in his first four starts. Half of
his fights have ended early. In Newark, Jennings looks to
keep the train on the tracks and close out his first year of
ring action.
UPDATE: Bryant Jennings won his
scheduled four-rounder vs. Randy Smith by 2nd round TKO. The
time was 2:18.
PHILLIP MCCANTS
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Prudential Center - Newark, NJ
TV: PPV
Another local enigma, McCants (8-1 / 3 KO) has some buzz
thanks to an amateur stoppage of highly ranked Mike Jones.
Granted that was a long time ago, but McCants looked good
(although rusty) in his 2009 return at the Blue Horizon. It
was his first fight in three years, and his most recent
start. He also has a 2006 win over Rosado's Newark opponent,
Jose Medina. On Thursday, he gets 9-0 / 6 KO prospect
Raymond Biggs Jr. Biggs is still forming, but he's got a win
over trial horse Chris Gray. It should be an interesting
challenge for McCants, which only came about this week.
Perhaps the early promise of "The Mongoose" will surface
Thursday, and we'll have another local to watch. But he's
going to have to post some fights in 2011.
UPDATE: Phillip McCants' six-rounder
with Raymond Biggs Jr. was scratched the day before the
fight when Biggs pulled out of the bout.
DHAFIR SMITH
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Jannus Landing - St. Petersburg, FL
TV: None
Dhafir "No Fear" Smith (23-19-7 / 4 KO) proves that his
nickname fits as he answers the call to fight in the
hometown of a fading but still relevant Jeff Lacy in a
12-rounder for the UBO Super Middleweight Belt. "Left Hook"
Lacy, a former world champ and multi-regional title holder,
is 25-3 with 17 KOs. It doesn't look like a great match for
Smith, but the Ike Williams look-a-like is a tough road
warrior who has always made it his business take these
difficult matches in stride, and truly test his opponents.
At 28, this is probably the biggest fight of his nine year
career - just watch that left hook.
UPDATE: Dhafir Simth upset all odds
with a 12-round unanimous decision over former champ Jeff
Lacy to claim the vacant UBO super middleweight title belt.
The scores were 116-112, 118-110, 117-111.
MAURICE BYARM
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Nat'l Guard Armory - Pikesville, MD
TV: None
Undefeated Philly heavyweight Byarm (9-0 / 6 KO) is the son
of 1980s local star Lionel Byarm. He gets his first
scheduled 8-rounder next week in Maryland versus Theron
Johnson (4-3 / 1 KO) in the card's semi-windup. All but one
of Byarm's bouts have occurred in Maryland. So Philly fans
are still waiting to get a look at him. Nothing in this
match says he won't continue his roll. Hopefully he'll soon
be back for his hometown debut.
UPDATE: Lionel Byarm stopped Winston
Thorpe at 2:51 of round five to raise his record to 10-0
with 7 KOs.
BERNARD HOPKINS
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Pepsi Coliseum - Quebec, Canada
TV: Showtime
What can we say? Bernard Hopkins is still out there building
his legacy fighting many top guys. At almost 46, all
Bernard's opponents are younger than he is. But somehow he
continues to turn back the clock. This is mostly due to his
unquestionable greatness, but his matchmaking skills should
get a big assist. Later this month he travels north to take
on Jean Pascal for the latter's WBC & IBO light heavyweight
championship. Pascal surprised many by beating the
division's top dog Chad Dawson. Matchmaker Hopkins wanted no
parts of Dawson, so Pascal's victory opened the door for
Bernard. Apparently Pascal looked human enough struggling to
victory against Dawson for Hopkins to make the fight - and
chances are, he'll beat him. A win on 12/18, will make "the
Executioner" the oldest man to win a major world title
(he'll be a month older than Foreman was when he regained
the heavyweight crown). But boxing history wasn't meant to
be manipulated like this. Having said that, nobody does it
better than Bernard.
UPDATE: Bernard Hopkins fought to a
12-round draw against Jean Pascal. Although the decision was
disputed by many - especially Hopkins - the verdict stuck
and prevented Bernard from bringing home another title and
becoming the oldest man to ever do so. Hopkins had to twice
climb off the floor from early knockdowns but rallied to
dominate much of the fight. He showed real signs of age, but
his performance was strong enough to make him want to fight
again. So maybe that "oldest" distinction is still in his
future.
SIMON CARR
Saturday, December 25, 2010
Venue TBD - Pennsylvania
TV: None
While digging through BoxRec, I stumbled on a tentatively
scheduled fight for Christmas Day. I couldn't believe what I
saw. Cruiserweight Simon "One Punch" Carr was slated to
fight a 4-rounder against an opponent to be named. I really
like Carr, so this discovery was met with a groan. Why does
this jack of all trades and master self promoter need to
fight again? It's been more than a year. So hopefully this
is more an act of physical fitness than a real fight. The
safety net is that no promoter is crazy enough to do a show
on Christmas. I'll give odds it won't happen - at least not
on 12/25. But will a Carr comeback happen? Say it
ain't so. Come on, Simon. You don't needs this.
UPDATE: Thankfully this Christmas Day
fight card was cancelled, and Simon "One Punch" Carr did not
step into the ring. Hopefully in the future, he will only do
so to wave at the ringside crowd. |